The Document Foundation congratulates the UK government

The Document Foundation congratulates the UK government
for their revolutionary and historical choice of open document standards

UK citizens will be the first in Europe to be liberated from proprietary
lock-ins

Berlin, July 22, 2014 - The Document Foundation (TDF) congratulates the
UK government for the selection of the Open Document Format (ODF), in
addition to Portable Document Format (PDF), to meet user needs.
LibreOffice, the free office suite developed by TDF, supports both ODF -
the native document format - and PDF (including PDF/A).

The original UK government press release is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/open-document-formats-selected-to-meet-user-needs.
In addition, the UK government has published a policy paper with more
details:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/sharing-or-collaborating-with-government-documents.

"TDF has always been a strong supporter of ODF, and a believer in open
document standards", says Thorsten Behrens, TDF Chairman. "July 22 will
be a date to remember, as the culmination of a dream inaugurated when
ODF become a ISO standard on November 30, 2006. By standardizing on ODF
and PDF, the UK government is showing the world that it is entirely
possible to find a way out of proprietary formats to enhance user freedom".

LibreOffice is a reference implementation of ODF, a document standard
which is supported by a growing number of applications (including
proprietary ones). ODF is independently managed by OASIS
(https://www.oasis-open.org/), a non-profit consortium that drives the
development, convergence and adoption of open standards for the global
information society.

To leverage the advantages of ODF, you can download LibreOffice from the
following link: http://www.libreoffice.org/download/. Extensions and
templates to supplement the installation of the software and add
specific features can be found here: http://extensions.libreoffice.org/.

Complementing ODF, LibreOffice manages Hybrid PDF files, which combine
the advantages of PDF and ODF by embedding a fully editable ODF document
into a PDF without breaking any of the standard characteristics of both
formats.

LibreOffice users, free software advocates and community members can
support The Document Foundation with a donation at
http://donate.libreoffice.org. Money collected will be used to enhance
the project both at global and local level.

About The Document Foundation (TDF)

The Document Foundation is an independent, self-governing and
meritocratic organization, based on Free Software ethos and incorporated
in Germany as a not for profit entity. TDF is focused on the development
of LibreOffice - the best free office suite ever - chosen by the global
community as the legitimate heir of OOo, and as such adopted by a
growing number of public administrations, enterprises and SMBs for
desktop productivity.

TDF is accessible to individuals and organizations who agree with its
core values and contribute to its activities. At the end of June 2014,
the foundation has around 200 members and close to 5,000 volunteer
contributors worldwide.

Media Contacts: https://www.documentfoundation.org/contact/.