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.
vane@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Yeah desktop apps era is back baby. Fuck you cloud.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 4 weeks ago
Syncthing has been so helpful in making me move away from cloud based options. And to think only reason I found out about it and gave it a shot was because I was trying to figure out how to easily sync my non Steam game save files between my Desktop and my Steam Deck. It’s been invaluable since then.
baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 4 weeks ago
Donate if you regularly use Syncthing. Help close the causal loop.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 4 weeks ago
That is a very cool project that I’d never heard of. Thanks for sharing!
azalty@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
How does that differ from something like Nextcloud?
ripcord@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
OnlyOffice is also good - my preferred for the basic Word/Excel type stuff I do.
OscarRobin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah I love LibreOffice’s customisability including sidebar etc, but OnlyOffice just performs a lot better and handles the most common formats better for me
tantalizer@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah! To me LibreOffice just looks dated and, to be honest, shit. OnlyOffice has a much cleaner interface.
Condiment2085@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Woowoo! Cloud has its place and I love it but it’s not for literally everything
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Never even qualified for SOLDIER.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
And has to cope by pretending he’s literally this other dude
bufalo1973@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Not so far. LibreOffice has a network version.