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 1 week ago
Yeah desktop apps era is back baby. Fuck you cloud.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 1 week 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 1 week ago
Donate if you regularly use Syncthing. Help close the causal loop.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 1 week ago
That is a very cool project that I’d never heard of. Thanks for sharing!
azalty@jlai.lu 1 week ago
How does that differ from something like Nextcloud?
ripcord@lemmy.world 1 week ago
OnlyOffice is also good - my preferred for the basic Word/Excel type stuff I do.
OscarRobin@lemmy.world 1 week 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 6 days ago
Yeah! To me LibreOffice just looks dated and, to be honest, shit. OnlyOffice has a much cleaner interface.
Condiment2085@lemm.ee 1 week ago
Woowoo! Cloud has its place and I love it but it’s not for literally everything
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Never even qualified for SOLDIER.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
And has to cope by pretending he’s literally this other dude
bufalo1973@lemm.ee 1 week ago
Not so far. LibreOffice has a network version.