LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs
www.computerworld.com
The free open-source Microsoft Office alternative is being downloaded by nearly 1 million users a week.

Interest in LibreOffice, the open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, is on the rise, with weekly downloads of its software package close to 1 million a week. That’s the highest download number since 2023.

“We estimate around 200 million [LibreOffice] users, but it’s important to note that we respect users’ privacy and don’t track them, so we can’t say for sure,” said Mike Saunders, an open-source advocate and a deputy to the board of directors at The Document Foundation.

LibreOffice users typically want a straightforward interface, Saunders said. “They don’t want subscriptions, and they don’t want AI being ‘helpful’ by poking its nose into their work — it reminds them of Clippy from the bad old days,” he said.

There are genuine use cases for generative AI tools, but many users prefer to opt-in to it and choose when and where to enable it. “We have zero plans to put AI into LibreOffice. But we understand the value of some AI tools and are encouraging developers to create … extensions that use AI in a responsible way,” Saunders said.

    • FlihpFlorp@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      5 days ago

      Well there’s the small matter of the new computer

      But oh NOW you tell me I don’t need to wire $600 to a random person

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        6·
        5 days ago

        You can dual boot on pretty much whatever you have, though I recommend buying a separate drive for Linux for minimum headaches.

        But yeah, I get it. Linux will be there when you’re ready.

        • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          5 days ago

          Please don’t suggest newcomers to dual boot. It’s very technical and requires a lot of knowledge and effort to troubleshoot when windows eventually fights back with new shenanigans. It provides a skewed impression of what using Linux is like.

          Just suggest to try the distros as a live USB. It gets them 90% of the way into an install, and it’s perfectly safe and reversible.

            • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              1·
              4 days ago

              Yeah is that completely safe? I’m really tempted to try out Mint and I have an old M2 from my previous machine I could format and use for it. The PC is my work/editing station though so can’t afford any risk. I can’t really make the switch since I’m still dependent on LR+PS (Adobe…) but most of my other software should work, and I’ve just always wanted to get into Linux but not sure if it’ll actually benefit me and my work or if it’s just gonna cause me even more hassle than windows currently does.

              I’m familiar with messing around in the BIOS, changing boot priority and formatting stuff and whatnot.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                2·
                4 days ago

                As long as you’re confident in being able to distinguish between the two drives (i.e. they have different capacities), you’re good.

                The main issue people run into w/ a dual boot setup is Windows clobbering the Linux boot loader (the thing that lets you pick whether to boot into Windows or Linux) and users not knowing how to reinstall it. It will only do that on the drive it’s installed to, so if Linux is on a separate drive altogether, you’ll be fine. I recommend going into the BIOS settings and switching the default boot to your Linux drive, and Linux should detect the Windows installation and give you the option to boot into either one.

                LR+PS (Adobe…)

                This is probably going to be an issue for you, since neither has a direct replacement on Linux. However, in the worst case scenario (you hate Linux and want to nuke it from orbit), you just need to switch the boot order back in your BIOS.

                • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                  2·
                  4 days ago

                  Right that sounds reasonable then. Switching boot order is a piece of cake and the Linux drive would be the only 128gb one in the whole array (I have a lot of drives, including a setup with stablebit drivepool, will that work?). After I’m done with this current gig in a couple days I should have a small window of free time, maybe I’ll finally get to it!

            • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              5 days ago

              This is perfectly viable and preferable, but for most newcomers just installing a new OS is a foreign concept in and of itself.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                1·
                5 days ago

                Fair. But blowing away all their stuff can really ruin their day. Learn to enter the boot menu to switch drives, and then they can always go back to Windows if something gets borked.