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.

  • PacMan@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    71·
    3 days ago

    I really like LibreOffice but I still need Excel. It’s a good 20 years ahead of the OSS software. It works find if your doing light work though

      • PacMan@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        21·
        3 days ago

        Easiest thing I can think of off the top of my head is dealing with pivot tables. UI is terrible in OpenOffice also integrations with PowerBI does not exist along with XLookup not existing last I checked

      • Seaflea@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        11·
        3 days ago

        For me biggest missing I’ve found is web/external queries. Excel has a system to log in to an API, retrieve that data and format it before it lands on your sheet.

        Libre functionality here is lacking/non existent.

        My workaround was to write a python query, add it as a cron job, write that data to a csv then call that csv from my sheet with a timed refresh. Not something the average user can or wants to do.

        Everything else I’ve found achievable.

    • MCasq_qsaCJ_234@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      That’s the problem: if you want greater adoption, you must cover the needs of accountants, because Excel knows perfectly well that they are the fixed source of income for companies.