Seb887MFeb 26, 2025
Neil Brown

Microsoft is introducing ads into a free version of Office, which seemingly only lets users save to OneDrive.

In other news, LibreOffice is also free, doesn't have ads, and lets you save your documents wherever you want. I use it every day for my work. It is available here:

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Home | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft

Free office suite – the evolution of OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx. Updated regularly, community powered.

Feb 24, 2025 at 8:44pmWeb
Show threadMaria Langer | 📝🛥️💎Feb 24, 2025
@neil @RPBook It's not "free" if there are ads and you can't save to your own media.
Show threadFancy Pants 🧐🩲Feb 24, 2025

@neil Thanks to LibreOffice, and before it OpenOffice, I haven't had to use Microsoft software at all my entire adult life.

(Of course Linux desktops had a large part to play in avoiding MS too.)

Show threadPaul MartinFeb 24, 2025
@[email protected] @[email protected] Somewhere I have a StarOffice CD. (The origin of both OpenOffice and LibreOffice.)
Show threadFancy Pants 🧐🩲Feb 24, 2025
@nowster Now that's impressive!
Show threadPaul MartinFeb 24, 2025
@[email protected] Yes, still got it!
Show threadPaul MartinFeb 24, 2025
@[email protected] @[email protected] Alt text got mangled.

The CD says it supports Solaris 2.5.1, 2.6, Solaris 7 for SPARC™ and Intel; Linux; OS2 (sic); and Windows 95, 98, NT

The date on the CD is August 1999.
Show threadTinmanFeb 24, 2025
@neil LibreOffice is awesome. I have used it for years. I have used Microsoft office when I was in school and it was free for students. I hated one drive and how hard office pushed to save everything there. I like to keep things local.
Show threadch0ccyra1n is leaving fedi soonFeb 24, 2025
@neil but how else will I stay up-to-date on the latest ads everyone's complaining about? /s
Show threadStephen BorrillFeb 24, 2025
@neil if they're anything like most mobile ads, it'll advertise other office suites with a load of fake gameplay
Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 24, 2025
@neil I'm team OpenOffice. But just cause I'm used to it since 2000 and, in my age, it's hard to get used to sth new.
Show threadjoostetoFeb 24, 2025
@historiavocis @neil
First release of openoffice was in 2002, the final release in 2011. It has now been obsolete longer than it ever was active.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org - Wikipedia

Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 25, 2025
@joosteto @neil oh, you're right. Before that, I used StarWriter and co... but as far as I know, OpenOffice was built on that foundation...
Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 25, 2025
@joosteto @neil Obsolete goes for OpenOffice.org.. It's Apache OpenOffice, now and still exists...
Show threadjoostetoFeb 25, 2025
@historiavocis @neil
Ah, thanks, didn't know that.
I now see they even link to Apache OpenOffice from the https://www.openoffice.org/ website. So confusing!
Apache OpenOffice - Official Site - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

The official home page of the Apache OpenOffice open source project, home of OpenOffice Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw and Base.

Show threadLaurens 🐐Feb 25, 2025

@joosteto @historiavocis @neil Apache OpenOffice is still obsolescent. It has a number of long-running unfixed security issues.

The only OpenOffice fork that is maintained regularly (and therefore has bugs and issues fixed asap) is LibreOffice.

edit: clarified my response

Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 25, 2025
@ElBeeToots @joosteto @neil Yes, perhaps I should finally switch to that...
Show threadLibreOfficeFeb 25, 2025
@historiavocis @ElBeeToots @joosteto @neil Apache OpenOffice has multiple, unfixed security issues over a year old, so it's strongly recommended to update to an actively maintained successor project like LibreOffice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OpenOffice#Security
Apache OpenOffice - Wikipedia

Show threadLaurens 🐐Feb 25, 2025

@libreoffice That was what I was referring to with that mention of 'obsolescent'. I'll clarify it in my previous response.

@historiavocis @joosteto @neil

Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 25, 2025
@libreoffice @ElBeeToots @joosteto @neil Thanks,
I've just installed Libre Office 😀
Show threadLibreOfficeFeb 25, 2025
@historiavocis Hope you like it!
Show threadChristiane GanteFeb 25, 2025
@libreoffice looks quite like what I'm used to from OpenOffice.
Show threadahistorical immaterialistFeb 24, 2025
@neil how does this even work? If you have a file on OneDrive, you can download it in your browser, you can email it somewhere. You can get it off OneDrive.
Show threadAndrew BriscoeFeb 24, 2025
@jimbob I read the original source. You can just download from OneDrive. There were tons of limitations including Windows only and line spacing, headers, and footers being “premium features.” Not sure if I could even write my current resume with it. I use LibreOffice.
Show threadTGFeb 24, 2025
@neil I've been a LibreOffice user for years and will never go back. It's office 2003 without all the garbage.
Show threadDave WarnockFeb 24, 2025
@neil I'm so happy that since 1998 I haven't had to use Microsoft Office (except to help other people on their computers).
StarOffice, then OpenOffice and for a long time LibreOffice.
Show threadSteve ScottFeb 24, 2025

@neil I guess that's a sort of a compete with Google docs.

There isn't much of the Microsoft ecosystem I want to be in these days...

Show threadDeamionFeb 24, 2025
@neil LibreOffice can even open ms office documents. Works on both windows and Linux. Very good free product. Includes alternatives to all office products.
Show threadReiner Jung 🇬🇱 🇺🇦 🇪🇺Feb 24, 2025
@neil LibreOffice is good enough to power for example the government of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is most likely good enough for everyone else.
Show threadpiku    minor!Feb 25, 2025
@prefec2 @neil the italian military also uses it exclusively
Show thread☑️ CathFeb 24, 2025

@neil Best to stop using closed Microsoft software at all and switch to #linux

It's not that hard.

#ubuntu #FreeSoftware #OpenSource

Show threadDeterioratedStuccoFeb 24, 2025
@neil
Desperate to train their AI.
Show threadChris Mackay 🇨🇦Feb 24, 2025
@neil Apple’s iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, & Keynote) remains free for those with Apple hardware. No ads, no limitations (save where you like), & XML-based file formats (right-click, open package, everything is right there, including text & embedded media — no lock-in).
Show threadDavidFeb 25, 2025
@tantramar @neil It would be nice if Apple made a version of iWork for Windows and sold it. I’d say the same for Linux, but there’s no way it could compete with LibreOffice there.
Show threadChris Mackay 🇨🇦Feb 25, 2025
@freeagent @neil I haven’t tried it, but do the versions of Pages, Numbers, & Keynote on icloud.com work from Windows/Linux? (They don’t work from iOS or iPadOS, but they do from macOS.)
Show threadDavidFeb 25, 2025
@tantramar @neil I wasn’t aware that there were web app versions of iWork, so I don’t know 😅
Show threadwoe2youFeb 25, 2025
@tantramar @neil The lock-in is hardware based.
Show threadChris Mackay 🇨🇦Feb 25, 2025
@woe2you @neil Not if it works via iCloud.com (unless by “hardware lock-in” you mean “must have internet-connected hardware”). 🤣
Show threadWulfy—Speaker to the machinesFeb 24, 2025

@neil

I have been using Open Office/Libre Office in production for over a decade.

It annoys the bejesus out of me when I have to work with the corporate slop documents
(to borrow the term from the AI lovers)

Show threadOld Man in the ShoeFeb 24, 2025

@n_dimension

> slop

don't

Show threadWagesOfFeb 24, 2025
@neil the enshitification path sure is well trodden.
Show threadDarren Nevares Feb 24, 2025

@neil I tried to convert a few nonprofits I was at to use LibreOffice, but it was typically Google Drive or Microsoft Office 

I did manage to host a few videos and files on my NextCloud when storage was getting slim on the company G Drive account.

Show threadPhilFeb 24, 2025
@neil Can't wait to hear about malvertising campaigns impersonating Office functionality
Show threadWritten TalesFeb 24, 2025
@neil I moved over to Libre also and canceled Microsoft. I want to support the small guys.
Show threadNed HamsonFeb 24, 2025
@neil have been using happily for ten years
Show threadKirsten NaomiFeb 25, 2025
@neil hmmm
Show threadBig Kumera EnergyFeb 25, 2025
@neil I've used libreoffice personally and professionally for slide decks, diagramming, spreadsheets and documents for over a decade and it's been a rock solid choice. I've got working invoice templates that I designed in 2012 that haven't needed any changes since.
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈Feb 25, 2025
@neil
I use Open Office, and I have been relatively happy with it, over the last 15 years. It can save as and open Office files (including Excel).
Show threadLibreOfficeFeb 25, 2025
@Darkphoenix You might want to read this, as OpenOffice has multiple unfixed security issues over a year old, so it's risky to stay with it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OpenOffice#Security
Apache OpenOffice - Wikipedia

Show threadsamiamsamFeb 25, 2025

@neil

i've been using LibreOffice for years

it is fantastic

Show threadMikeFeb 25, 2025
@neil I've been using LiberOffice for quite some time now. Zero drawbacks from Office.
Show threadCedar Fen Farm Cedar Fen FarmFeb 25, 2025

@neil

Converted my business to libre office. Its been an easy adoption for my staff.

Show threadBardMoss the Bodhi Linux GuyFeb 25, 2025
@neil
LibreOffice is not a perfect solution for users who have to have Microsoft file formats. Better solutions would be OnlyOffice or the not-free (with a free version) SoftMaker Office.
Show threadBardMoss the Bodhi Linux GuyFeb 25, 2025
@neil
For the record, I have been using SoftMaker Office since 2008, and the Linux version since they released it in 2012. They did not make a Mac version until 2021.
I was running a small publishing company as senior editor, and I was spending dozens of hours reformatting documents because the .odt format uses completely different rules for margins and indents. After about the 20th book I had to strip down to text and reformat, I no longer allowed LibreOffice to be used.
Show threadJohn BreenFeb 25, 2025
@neil The LibreOffice Suite also includes a very nice Spreadsheet application that does all the things, and a nice Drawing (think Visio) and Presentation (think PowerPoint) app. Been using these for personal and professional purposes for years.
All good enough when it counts, excellent in ways O365 is not.
And it does not snoop you. People made it that way.
Show threadBitslingers-R-UsFeb 25, 2025
@neil "There's a lot of outrage in the public these days. How can we get in on that?"

--Microsoft, probably.
Show threadIcono ClastFeb 25, 2025
@neil
I've been using Libre Office ever since superb Word Perfect was blocked by MicroSoft. I know nothing about MicroSoft Office because I think I've never used it. There is NOTHING about Libre Office that I don't like! It provides many options that I don't use but that you might like.
Show threadLuiz F Picolo Feb 25, 2025
@neil @libreoffice it's the best 😎
Show threadJustinFeb 25, 2025
@neil similarly Windows has been essentially free for a few years but with ads. Come to open source! Linux, BSD, whatever floats your boat, no ads!
Show threadGregFeb 25, 2025

@neil on top of which, MSO/365 are just horrible to use. For presentations, PowerPoint is hideous. Apple's Keynote is a dream to use. Excel's OK but for everything else, it's Libre Office all the way, which may have a few rough edges but nothing like MSO. Some may prefer the other Apple Office products, and that's a valid position.

Anything but MSO

Show threadmrobergeFeb 25, 2025
@neil Love LibreOffice. Have been using it for years on my Linux devices. I’ve also migrated from Google Drive/Docs to this: https://officex.app/. Not totally free, but cheap and bulletproof. Have a look and let me know your thoughts…cheers!
OfficeX

OfficeX Free Unlimited Workspace - Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations & Cloud Storage. Made for Freedom Loving Entrepreneurs. Private & Secure. 100% Free Forever.