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"If It Has a CPU, We Can Run It" - How Collabora Online Escaped the Browser
In this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Thorsten Behrens, Tor Lillqvist & Jan Holesovsky - the three principal engineers behind the new Collabora Office release, about what it really means to move a complex application from the browser to the desktop.
They explain how Collabora Online has been transformed into a native desktop app that runs entirely locally while preserving the same user interface and architecture, and why this approach is fundamentally different from simply wrapping a web app. The conversation explores the technical and conceptual challenges of cross-platform software, the limitations of browser environments, lessons learned from earlier mobile ports, and the importance of reusing a shared core across web, desktop, and mobile.
Along the way, the engineers reflect on portability, performance, security, and developer experience, revealing why building truly cross-platform software in many cases is difficult - and how they succeeded.
00:00 Podcast intro
00:59 Guest introductions
03:57 High level overview of browser-desktop release
06:00 What are the different layers of an application?
08:09 What are the limitations of an app in a browser?
10:15 What will the desktop application "feel" like?
11:18 Browser-based vs. desktop cross-platform support
13:10 Comparisons porting to mobile app and porting to desktop
16:35 Changing the wheels on a car?
19:12 Was there a "eureka" moment?
20:31 Are web browsers the best environment for cross-platform support?
23:31 Can you port it to anything?
24:33 Why did you want to do this?
25:34 How do you describe your work to non-technical friends?
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By @fps_gbg – PeerTubeIn this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Thorsten Behrens, Tor Lillqvist & Jan Holesovsky - the three principal engineers behind the new Collabora Office release, about what it really means to move a complex application from the browser to the desktop.
They explain how Collabora Online has been transformed into a native desktop app that runs entirely locally while preserving the same user interface and architecture, and why this approach is fundamentally different from simply wrapping a web app. The conversation explores the technical and conceptual challenges of cross-platform software, the limitations of browser environments, lessons learned from earlier mobile ports, and the importance of reusing a shared core across web, desktop, and mobile.
Along the way, the engineers reflect on portability, performance, security, and developer experience, revealing why building truly cross-platform software in many cases is difficult - and how they succeeded.
00:00 Podcast intro
00:59 Guest introductions
03:57 High level overview of browser-desktop release
06:00 What are the different layers of an application?
08:09 What are the limitations of an app in a browser?
10:15 What will the desktop application "feel" like?
11:18 Browser-based vs. desktop cross-platform support
13:10 Comparisons porting to mobile app and porting to desktop
16:35 Changing the wheels on a car?
19:12 Was there a "eureka" moment?
20:31 Are web browsers the best environment for cross-platform support?
23:31 Can you port it to anything?
24:33 Why did you want to do this?
25:34 How do you describe your work to non-technical friends?