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 5 days 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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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 16 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I like my personal cloud.

[–] Condiment2085@lemm.ee 10 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I'm hoping to set one up later this year. I have an old laptop that has good enough specs to run it from my research - I just need to get everything off of it and swamp windows for Linux! Never did a Linux install so I'm excited.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Woo! Don't hesitate to ask for help, Linux users usually don't bite. 😀

[–] Condiment2085@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Will do! Do you have any specific communities you recommend for asking for help in Linux / self hosting type stuff? :)

[–] oppy1984@lemm.ee 9 points 5 days ago (2 children)

As a lifetime Windows user who switched to Linux about ten years ago, I recommend Linux Mint. It's designed to look and feel like Windows 7 so it's an easier transition when you first move from Windows. Also Mint is a rock solid distribution and has been my daily driver for about 9 years now. And before I forget, Mint has great documentation and community so when you get stuck on something you can easily Google for help.

[–] turnip@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago

Steam games work too now which is good.

[–] gruhuken@slrpnk.net 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I switched for the first time a few weeks ago!! I didn't realise until I booted my Windows partition earlier for work that I hadn't used it one single time since I did that because it was still open on the download page and forced a hundred updates on me 😅 it's really fun and freeing, I've tried a few and settled on Pop!_OS because I love the simplicity, the pretty desktop environment and the window tiling

[–] Condiment2085@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

So cool! So you basically kept windows in one part of your machine and ran pop os on the rest? Really cool idea!

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's a bit easier if you have a separate drive that Linux can own.

[–] Condiment2085@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I was reading about this solution. My main laptop is a MacBook Air with M2 so I don't think I can run any version of Linux on it. I have an old windows laptop I'm thinking about trying it on.

Would Linux still run fine on an older laptop?

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

Linux absolutely works well on old hardware. I don't know what your definition of "older" is, but I still use my laptop from 2017.

[–] gruhuken@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 days ago

Lots of Linux distributions are specifically built for older laptops! And all of them tend to run pretty well on lower end equipment. Here's a list that also mentions the specs needed for each one: https://linuxsimply.com/best-linux-distros-for-old-laptops/

Linux Mint, probably the most popular one on all computers nowadays regardless of specs, has a minimum RAM requirement of 2GB with 4GB recommended :) they make Linux distros for old tiny Raspberry Pi computers so even if your computer is a hundred years old you'll probably be able to run TinyCore on it at least

[–] gruhuken@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yeah!! I haven't had any trouble with it yet, my laptop has only one SSD slot which is why I did it on the same one. I just switch when I boot up. I have the Windows one just in case I can't get a game to run and to access my work's shared drive (absolutely cannot figure it out on Linux lol)

[–] Jeffool@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

When I get another job lined up that's my goal. A job and these bills. And that car loan. And maybe a house... Man. Maybe two jobs.