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

computerworld.com

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

#81

Post by dijksterhuis »

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…

Reaper’s “i’m going to stop you from using the software for six seconds with a sufficiently obtrusive, non-arrogant, guilt tripping message about being non-free and you should really purchase a license but you can keep using it and download new versions even if you don’t purchase a license” is absolutely genius and a good sort-of counter example to your covering ongoing costs point. at least it highlights the problem for me i guess. (edit: actually, it’s the same problem i guess that you allude to in your last sentence).

i’ve used repear for years on and off without paying anything. new updates come out all the time. fixes, new features etc. (every time i open Reaper I hang my head in shame for not having bought a license).

repear isn’t a profit optimised entity. i gather it is software created and maintained primarily for people to use. licenses cover costs.

adobe/microsoft are profit optimised entities. people using the software is secondary to them making money off it. subscriptions are there to make them profit, not to cover their costs.

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

#83

Post by apexalpha »

I've been trying different office apps that work with MS office!!!

I understand this is a shifting requirement but I just don't work in an environment where I can force everyone to switch.

Currently I find OnlyOffice to be much better than LibreOffice.

Does HN know of any others?

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

#84

Post by PeterStuer »

I don't mind paying for MS Office. I do mind that every new version seems to be worse than the previous one for doing actual work on a real computer.

I realy feel the PM's at Microsoft consider you a dinosaur if your primary "productivity" device is not your phone.

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

#85

Post by renegat0x0 »

_mlbt wrote: post #4
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.

There’s Krita… https://krita.org/en/

Krita is so good, and so easy to use! I rarely use gimp now

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

#86

Post by lauritz »

To my surprise, what used to be called iWork has been my main "Office" replacement for years now. It's good enough, and it's free. I have switched over most of the non-technical people in my life to it, and they have no issues using it (except if they email a .pages document to a Windows user).

I especially enjoy Numbers and the way you can arrange multiple tables on a page. It's a different paradigm coming from Google Sheets or Excel and takes some getting used to, but to me it now makes more sense.

Of course, if I need something "done right", I'll drop down to Affinity, LaTeX, or InDesign. But I rarely have these needs nowadays.

A similar argument could be made for going all in on Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, but I feel queasy knowing that all of my data is in a free Google account, after reading some of the stories here about reaching Google support if something goes sideways.

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

#87

Post by XorNot »

PeterStuer wrote: post #84

I don't mind paying for MS Office. I do mind that every new version seems to be worse than the previous one for doing actual work on a real computer. I realy feel the PM's at Microsoft consider you a dinosaur if your primary "productivity" device is not your phone.

I stopped buying Office after 2003. Past then they added the Ribbon UI which ruined it for any productive workflow where you want to use styles and reviewing tools.

Been using LibreOffice Write ever since, which helpfully has pretty much the 2003 UI. The only thing I think it could use is that nifty Jetbrains "search anywhere" feature.

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

#88

Post by lauritz »

PeterStuer wrote: post #84

I don't mind paying for MS Office. I do mind that every new version seems to be worse than the previous one for doing actual work on a real computer. I realy feel the PM's at Microsoft consider you a dinosaur if your primary "productivity" device is not your phone.

Given that most of our civilization is run using these tools, it boggles the mind how they are still so limited.

Why is there a limit of nine levels of headings in Word? Why does it feel less usable on my i9 with 32GB of RAM once you hit 200+ pages? Why is the "collaborative mode" still way, way, way behind Google Docs functionality circa 2012? I feel like the core functionality has stagnated since Office 2003.

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

#89

Post by GoblinSlayer »

n_ary wrote: post #55
donatj wrote: post #37

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.

While I sometimes hangout with non-Engineering folks, I see following activities: - preparing various letters, reports, audits, notices, terms/contracts etc. by modifying or using very specific templates and Office tools are very well entrenched for fixed templates - Financial reports, analysis on excel(yes, most professionals are trained and feel comfortable there, same as how we feel good in terminal/console), buil…

Not google docs, because they can contain confidential information.

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

#90

Post by ohgr »

Subscription is fine on Office for me. I just pay for the O365 family edition (without copilot) and everyone gets it for about £6.70 a month. However I don't want the signed in cloud version so I just use the moral justification of cracking it with Ohook and disabling all the cloud shit. I'm paying for it so I don't give a crap.

LibreOffice I want to like but I've tripped over many weird bugs and things which have been floating around in their Bugzilla since the dawn of time.

If I have an academic interest, I'll just use TeXlive and LaTeX Workship inside VScode.

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