When members of the community are developing code, testing software, or reporting a bug, it would be most useful to have a single data file format specifically suited for all these purposes. This format would have these requirements: (1) the file must contain as much of the data stored in the document/spreadsheet/presentation/database as possible (in order to successfully reproduce the issue) (2) the entire file must be in a relatively easy to read format (3) the file must not contain any data which could be considered private The flat XML format works well in this regard, except for #3. To rectify #3, I propose one or more options for the flat XML format to remove custom user data. Custom user data can include names of printers, filespecs, fonts, LibreOffice options, lists of installed extensions, etc. I frequently run into files at client offices that demonstrate major bugs, but cannot submit them because I cannot be sure all client data has been removed. This proposed enhancement would encourage more submissions of bug demonstration files. The goal is for bugs to be identified and fixed faster and more efficiently.
File -> Properties has an "Apply user data" checkbox, did you try to uncheck it to remove personal data? Also, from a development point of view, normal ODF is just fine, all relevant developer editors (vim, emacs) can edit the XML files inside ZIP files in-place, no need for flat ODF from our side. See e.g. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Vim#Editing_zipped_XML_files (emacs has a similar feature, too).
Yes, selecting that option removes some of the data, but not all. Since ODF files are not legible with a text editor, I can't get any clients to allow publishing them on a public forum. If clients can't open a text editor and see there is nothing special in it, they won't allow it to be published.
Adding self to CC if not already on
This is not a separate enhancement, but just a duplicate of bug 157484 (or similar - e.g., bug 159130), i.e. it needs an option to clear personal information, which is required not only in development, testing, and bug reporting. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 157484 ***