I would like to use Desktop Bridge to compile a version of LibreOffice for redistribution on the Microsoft Store. I do not plan on selling the software, but will ask for donations to help me cover the costs associated with testing, compiling, and distributing it.
Okay… first off… to minimize pointless philosophical arguments… my main motive is to get some decent traffic in the MS Store, and thus help save both the MS Store, and open sourced software itself. You can believe otherwise if you choose, but I believe in the mantra “united we stand, divided we fall”. And right now Apple, Google, Steam, and other for profit stores are giving a good old fashioned spanking to PCs. “Normal” people are downloading millions of apps from Apple and Google, whereas they would never consider anymore going to a site like LibreOffice, figuring out which of the distros they need, and daring to press the big green download button (which most ppl are aware that big green download buttons usually infect them with viruses whether it’s true or not).
If we want to see open source software survive for another decade it needs to be discoverable, easy to install, and NORMAL PEOPLE need to be able to trust that it won’t infect their computers.
That said… please keep the “snark” to a minimum. I just want an honest answer to how I can get LibreOffice on the store and keep it on the store.
First question… can I call it “LibreOffice”? Or do I need to call it something else, like “My LibreOffice”? Or “FreeOffice”? Etc?
Second question… Can I build in my own “donate” page into the software, so that I can help recover some of my costs?
Third question… Do you know if Microsoft themselves will give me grief about publishing this to the MS Store? They’ve come a long way under Nadella in cleaning up their anti-open-source image… ie saving GitHub from bankruptcy… but… has anyone attempted this already and received massive grief from Microsoft?
Fourth question… I would like to build and distribute only one app at a time. For example… I would like to build Writer, then Calc and list them as separate apps on the Store, instead of building the entire suite of apps. Is this possible?
Any advice and perhaps technical help you can offer is appreciated. But again… if you have strong philosophical views please keep them to yourself. Please limit your remarks to what is legal, and what is achievable.