Joeffice, An Open Source Office Suite One Developer Built In 30 Days

Don't like Microsoft Office? Just build your own office suite—this guy did.

Software developer Anthony Goubard may be one of the most ambitious DIYers on the planet. How else can you explain it? One man looks across the landscape of productivity suites—from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice to Google Docs—and says: "I'll just make my own." Goubard is behind "Joeffice," an open source office suite written in Java and released under the Apache license. The Netherlands-based developer completed the first release—which can be downloaded and used for free on Windows, Mac, and Linux, or subscribed to as an online version—in only 30 days, chronicling the experience with one video per day during April and May. Joeffice isn't usable as anyone's primary office tool yet, but Goubard (who runs a small software company called Japplis) has big ambitions. He explained his motivations in an e-mail interview with Ars:

Ars: Why is it called "Joeffice"? Goubard: Well, it's an office written in Java, so Java Office was first shortened to JOffice but I found Joeffice more fun as a software name.