this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs | The free open-source Microsoft Office alternative is being downloaded by nearly 1 million users a week (www.computerworld.com)
submitted 1 week ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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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.

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[–] clot27@lemm.ee 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I replaced MS Office with libreoffice on my dad's PC and he didnt even noticed for months. Libreoffice is just better.

[–] CafecitoHippo@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago

My only complaint is that tab is not an option to auto complete. It's infuriating as someone who works in Excel all day for work and then has some things to do at home in a spreadsheet and I type =vlook tab and then it switches to the next column. Let me autocomplete the formula to the next input! And they don't let you change it either. It's the most infuriating thing. It's why I refused to use LibreOffice for a while but the switch to Linux forced my hand. I like Libre Office more than Only Office.

[–] Sauvandu60@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 week ago

This is a great news! I hope more people would use open-source software like Libreoffice.

[–] sfu@lemm.ee 22 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Microsoft Office is adding in AI? Spreadsheets can take a lot of work to create, I can just imaging an AI tool going in the messing one little thing up, and it being near impossible to find the error. Or not even know your calculations aren't being done the way you want.

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[–] turnip@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 week ago (13 children)

We should all get Signal as well. If you don't have it you'll probably be surprised how many of your contacts do.

[–] rusticus@lemm.ee 15 points 1 week ago

Nice try Hegseth

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[–] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 week ago (8 children)

If you're a nerd, also check out Typst and LaTeX. Being able to format your documents with pure code is awesome, and you can also define functions for different things, import libraries to generate graphs, and write comments that don't show up in the document.

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[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

For me it was about freedom, and not being locked into the Microsoft sphere.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

Good. Finally. It's about time.

[–] trashboat@midwest.social 13 points 1 week ago

I’ve gradually been switching over. The UI is somewhat confusing in my experience- but the MSO UX+UI is consistently getting much, much worse as time passes

[–] wreckingball4good@lemm.ee 12 points 1 week ago

I love Libre so much

[–] PenyihirEmas@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago

Based

[–] scotmartin@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago

I have to say I'm one of them. Cancelled my office subscription and an trying to avoid making the same mistake again. It was convenient though.

[–] Brotha_Jaufrey@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (10 children)

I’ve used Libre Office, but unpopular opinion, the formatting sucks. I just pirated word, never paying for that again

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The formatting... The formatting that you can easily modify. Sigh. It takes two minutes, my friend.

Anyway, you do you.

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