(Note to German readers: Aufgrund des internationalen Bezugs verfasse ich diesen Blogeintrag ausnahmsweise auf Englisch. Künftige Beiträge werden wieder wie gewohnt auf Deutsch erscheinen.)

Some of you might have read my e-mail titled “Wind of Change”, where I stepped back from all my roles within the OpenOffice.org community.

First of all, thank you very very much to everyone who has sent me nice words of support, to everyone who encouraged me to follow the path I’ve taken. The positive feedback that reached me not only in press articles but also in lots of private e-mails has been really overwhelming, and to be honest, it really felt good. The last weeks have been exciting but also exhausting, and a lot of things changed just in a short lapse of time. All I personally do is for our users, for our community, and getting their positive feedback means so much to me. I’m proud of not only having made lots of professional contacts during my seven years on duty, but even more I’m proud that a lot of private relationships grew out of them. So, thanks everyone, for not being only a part of my professional life, but also for being friends, and for supporting me in this time of change.

I received numerous e-mails asking me how I feel about this resignation and what I anticipate for the future, so I’ll try to give answers. I’m not speaking anymore on behalf of OpenOffice.org, and I don’t officially speak as representative of The Document Foundation here either — I solely speak personally and privately, as the free and open source enthusiast I am.

Of course, stepping down from all my roles and duties in the OpenOffice.org project that I have been with for so long wasn’t easy. On the other hand, it wasn’t as hard as I have imagined. To me, it is not about giving up something, it’s not about leaving, but rather about investing in the future, about building up on the solid grounds we created during the last decade — it is about moving forward. I was and am convinced that the step I’ve taken is right, that The Document Foundation will provide the perfect framework for what we do, and that it is the best place to be for those who want to engage themselves in creating a truly free office suite. Even if the product’s brand had to be changed to LibreOffice, my personal values behind it remain the same. In fact, I am sure that the changed governance in a foundation provides the best grounds for our ideas to grow even further, for our intentions to spread, and for our vision to become a reality. So, in the end, the saying about leaving with a laughing and a crying eye fits best — it is sad to see that the resignation from my roles was necessary, but I’m even more looking forward to what will happen in the future with LibreOffice and The Document Foundation, and I am proud of being a part of it.

As I’ve written in my letter of resignation, I leave with no bad feelings at all, not blaming anyone. We are in a situation where the positions seem to be stuck, and where I personally feel that any further discussion at this point of time will not lead to anything helpful, just to people attacking each other. I am absolutely convinced that there will be much more constructive discussions in some months’ of time, and I am very much looking forward to that. By stepping down from all my OpenOffice.org roles, I want to make my personal contribution for things to settle down.

For me personally, this step also marks a change in life.

For the past seven years, I spent most of my leisure time for my pro bono engagement with OpenOffice.org. I am proud of the doors this opened to me, about the views and insights it gave me, about the wonderful teachers and exciting opportunities I experienced. I am proud and thankful of having had the honour of working in such a large and recognized project, of the trust people put in me, and about so many things I have seen. I know that not many people will get the chances and opportunities I have been given.

Giving up my OpenOffice.org roles doesn’t mean I’m not with the open source community anymore — not at all! I will continue to be a board of directors member in our German nonprofit, will go on with the Open-Source-Treffen (Open Source Meetings) and the Open-Source-Kochen (Open Source Cooking) I’ve founded, and of course, you’ll regularly read from me at Twitter, Identi.ca, on this blog, and in a variety of open source magazines, where I continue to contribute my thoughts and ideas. And, of course, I am with The Document Foundation, where I am not only a part of the Steering Committee, but also in the team taking care of the infrastructure. Exciting times ahead!

However, as much as I enjoy all the time I spend in open source projects, now that the end of my studies approaches in a few months, I also have to think about how my future life should look like and how I can start my professional career. Undoubtedly, everything I learned the past seven years will greatly help me with this, but I guess that in the next months, I will have to invest more time in my “real” life, to build up my very personal future.

Don’t worry, I won’t be gone, and my heart for free software, open standards, LibreOffice and The Document Foundation is strong, and I will engage myself by any means possible. I don’t know where my career will lead me to, but I know for sure that my thoughts, views, visions, hopes, dreams, goals and ideals have not changed at all. Not to forget I made lots of friends, and I really look forward to meeting you again on conferences and events, online and offline. Expect that for the next months, you maybe hear less from me than the last years, but don’t expect me at all to be silent. ;-)

You see that the future will be very interesting by all means — not only for LibreOffice, but also for me personally.

Thanks for being a part of my last seven years, and I look forward to be with you in the future!