LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs • Hacker News Board

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#31

Post by sounds » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:23 AM UTC

jwr wrote: post #25

vunderba wrote: post #2

If I'm evaluating a potential application whose core functionality does not require external resources/servers (Dropbox for example) and they don't at a minimum offer some kind of perpetual fallback license (aka the Jetbrains annual subscription model), then I straight up bounce. Examples of good alternatives - Pixelmator > Photoshop - Davinci Resolve > Premiere - Reaper > Audition I have no interest in renting my to…

> I have no interest in renting my tools. While I appreciate the sentiment, the world where you could use the same software for many years without updates is gone. These days developers have to invest significant time and effort into making sure the software just runs on the constantly updated operating systems and platforms — which costs money on an ongoing basis. Expecting your software to be updated regularly with…

The professionals who still use unstable platforms are forced to rent their tools, sharecropper style. What about professionals like me who made the leap to a stable platform? "Exact binary you downloaded" hasn't been in my toolbox for a long time now.

I don't know many people left who pay for their OS these days.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#32

Post by cable2600 » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:30 AM UTC

underseacables wrote: post #12

I confess that I've been using a pirated version of office for years and years. When I can no longer use that then I will upgrade to libre office.

Microsoft deactivates pirated versions of Office and tells you to buy a copy.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#33

Post by thaumasiotes » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:32 AM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #5

Shopper0552 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any good alternatives to Photoshop that are open source? And that are not GIMP. Nothing against GIMP, I just found it too hard to learn coming from photoshop. I'm looking for a simple editor that can do color adjustments, crop/resize images, and add text.

> I'm looking for a simple editor that can do color adjustments, crop/resize images, and add text. Those are all pretty simple in GIMP though? I'm not doubting that they are different from Photoshop but how long could it take to learn the GIMP way?

I'd like to know more about color adjustments. I know GIMP can do them in some form, but I have no idea what the options are or what kind of results I should hope to be able to achieve. Documentation doesn't really seem to address these questions, though it is available if your question is "how do I run this menu item I found?" (Answer: open the menu, and click on the menu item.)

Cropping and resizing are trivial. It would take less than one minute to learn how.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#34

Post by snielson » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:36 AM UTC

Shopper0552 wrote: post #3

vunderba wrote: post #2

If I'm evaluating a potential application whose core functionality does not require external resources/servers (Dropbox for example) and they don't at a minimum offer some kind of perpetual fallback license (aka the Jetbrains annual subscription model), then I straight up bounce. Examples of good alternatives - Pixelmator > Photoshop - Davinci Resolve > Premiere - Reaper > Audition I have no interest in renting my to…

Do you have any good alternatives to Photoshop that are open source? And that are not GIMP. Nothing against GIMP, I just found it too hard to learn coming from photoshop. I'm looking for a simple editor that can do color adjustments, crop/resize images, and add text.

I use Paint.net for simple tasks like those you listed. I paid $10 for it in the Microsoft store but I think you can get it for free from the website.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#35

Post by Hardening9604 » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:43 AM UTC

underseacables wrote: post #12

I confess that I've been using a pirated version of office for years and years. When I can no longer use that then I will upgrade to libre office.

massgrave.dev has worked well for me

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#36

Post by spl757 » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:45 AM UTC

LeoPanthera wrote: post #18

vunderba wrote: post #2

If I'm evaluating a potential application whose core functionality does not require external resources/servers (Dropbox for example) and they don't at a minimum offer some kind of perpetual fallback license (aka the Jetbrains annual subscription model), then I straight up bounce. Examples of good alternatives - Pixelmator > Photoshop - Davinci Resolve > Premiere - Reaper > Audition I have no interest in renting my to…

You actually can still buy Office. It's quite expensive though. I suppose it always was. https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=2113574&CLCID=0x10...

I hear https://ms.codes/ sells office and stuff.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#37

Post by donatj » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:51 AM UTC

I've commented as much before but what do people even use office for these days? Like I hear individuals complain about the prices and I'm just like I have not needed a real office suite in years. Google Docs has been enough to get by with for free for well over a decade.

Are you... creating and printing documents? Why? I haven't had a real need for a word processor since email was invented.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#38

Post by tombert » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:56 AM UTC

vunderba wrote: post #2

If I'm evaluating a potential application whose core functionality does not require external resources/servers (Dropbox for example) and they don't at a minimum offer some kind of perpetual fallback license (aka the Jetbrains annual subscription model), then I straight up bounce. Examples of good alternatives - Pixelmator > Photoshop - Davinci Resolve > Premiere - Reaper > Audition I have no interest in renting my to…

I would also like to throw in Lightworks into the “very good Premiere alternatives”. If you are ok with exporting 720p, the free version is pretty capable but if you want higher export resolution it cost money.

It has a subscription option, but also a “buy outright” option, and it’s often on sale for half price for the permanent license, ends up costing around ~$200 and it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

I think it’s very good, though I am not a professional video editor by trade.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#39

Post by chris_wot » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 4:58 AM UTC

nilram wrote: post #10

I started using OpenOffice a couple decades ago when I got tired of pirating the market leader. Not wanting to start any religious wars, but I still haven't made the leap to Libre.

LibreOffice is vastly more stable and has more features and compatibility fixes that OpenOffice. I recommend using it.

Re: LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

#40

Post by chris_wot » Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 5:00 AM UTC

cft wrote: post #11

is there a way to plug say Grok or Chatgpt API into LibreOffice writer or sheets? such that it can have write access to the documents?

There is an extensive Python extensions module that could do it.

https://dev.blog.documentfoundation.org/2023/11/25/libreoffi...