A LibreOffice developer has shared his experience of having his Microsoft account banned, and how the company has been uncooperative in helping him recover it.

Recently, we reported on LibreOffice, accusing Microsoft of intentionally using complex file formats as a tactic to lock in users to Microsoft Office, hindering open source alternatives like LibreOffice. Now, Microsoft has banned LibreOffice developer, Mike Kaganski, from using its services, citing an “activity that violates [its] Services Agreement”.

According to Mike, this happened last Monday when he tried to send a technical email to the LibreOffice dev mailing list, which is a normal part of his routine, but Thunderbird returned an error saying the message couldn’t be sent. His account was blocked upon retry, and he found himself completely logged out of his Microsoft account…

  • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
    684·
    3 days ago

    Naivity:

    I develop open-source code. But that never made me one of the “I hate proprietary software or IT giant corporations” types. I always saw the nice things that Microsoft offered to its users; I saw not only downsides in its products. And I also used (and continue to use) things created by it: Windows to start with (and I develop there, being able to debug and address issues specific to the platform that most of our users use); but also its email service for personal mail.

    https://mikekaganski.wordpress.com/

    • arsCynic@beehaw.orgEnglish
      15·
      3 days ago

      I always saw the nice things that Microsoft offered to its users

      I’d understand this perspective in 2005, but 2025?

    • Restoration@midwest.socialEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      I’m decidedly NOT a computer expert, but our newest computer, which is always trying to force us to save things to “One Drive,” now no longer even lets me open Libre Office files. Is there any way I can fix that? I would think a bunch of people would be suing MS over that, except that in this current political climate, that’s probably not even going to go anywhere.

      • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Just to make sure I’ve understood you correctly: You are trying to open LibreOffice odt or ods files on a ‘new’ computer with MS Office (365?) installed. Or did you install LibreOffice on that one?

    • deur@feddit.nlEnglish
      754·
      3 days ago

      Ironic you’re calling them naive and then quoting this. Hahahaha