this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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LibreOffice is preinstalled in Pop OS, and as someone who loves the idea of FOSS I want to use it, but inevitably I just use Google docs or Office Online. Is it really worth learning? Has anyone successfully incorporated it into your workflow?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, on my personal computer. The UI isn't the best but so far I have been able to handle just about anything I throw at it competently. I definitely prefer Microsoft office which is on my work issued PC. Not a fan of Google docs unless im collaborating on something with friends.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I do. I’ve used it for many years - back to when it was OpenOffice and I even dabbled with StarOffice before that. It’s not as good as MS Office but it does the job. I also use Office 365 and G Suite occasionally. It’s definitely a good thing that we have LibreOffice.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, I've been using it (and Collabora) for years! For the most part, I don't trust Google Docs at all, and while MS Office is the business standard... my use case doesn't require the fluff MS Office adds.

I do use MS at work because I have to, and I used it for collab in grad school... but other than that? Libre all the way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I used OpenOffice then switched to LibreOffice in recent years. I also use Word and occasionally BBEdit but mostly stick with OpenOffice for as I only need simple text editing, basic tables etc Edit: to add that I also use Google Docs and Google Keep when I want something quick and dirty that's going to later be available anywhere I might possibly need to access it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

If I had to choose only one program it would be OnlyOffice. I like LibreOffice Writer okay but Calc can’t handle my .csv files as they are too big while OnlyOffice does fine with even my largest of datasets.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I personally used it for writing my thesis and for creating presentations. It fit my needs perfectly as there are also extensions supporting it like LangaugeTool or Zotero. For personal usage, it is perfect. In my former start-up, we used Nextcloud with Collabora (now just called Nextcloud Office) and that worked out perfectly fine as well.

I agree that it can be tricky if you have to collaborate with others that use MS Office, unfortunately. For that I use Office Online or worst case whip up my MacBook and run the normal MS Office suite. But I didn't have to use it for quite long time now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Like everything else it depends on what you're trying to do.

Bugs and operational issues aside a document written in Libra office is not going to be pixel compatible with the word doc. In many cases, The formatting can be pretty far off.

But the same goes for Google docs although they make a pretty solid attempt to make them close they're still not pixel perfect.

If your output is a printer or a PDF I don't really think it matters what you use they're all serviceable within reason.

If you're working with someone on grants or trying to find a job and need to give them an editable document for some reason It's probably best to use Microsoft word.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I use it mainly for personal use, and mainly when people send me Excel worksheets. I've also used Calc to manipulate data for CSV merges, too. I've worked in small newspaper office that'll have Macs but don't want to buy Office; unlike Pages it interacts with the outside world nicely.

I've been a user so long that I had a StarOffice license in college so I didn't have to reboot to Windows to work on term papers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I use it for pretty much everything that I would use Microsoft Word for. Essays, signs, résumés, legal documents... lots of uses.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use it several times a week, mostly for spreadsheets. At work I'm forced to use microsoft office365 but off the clock I do a lot of sidegig data management (open source and game related) using libreoffice.

Some of said data is being ordered before being put in a large unwieldy database - its easier to do the edits in libra than in the actual database, at least till the team cleans up that mess of a database.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My main gripe with LibreOffice is just the UI, but that is partially because I don't use it often (negative reinforcing loop). Late 90's and Early 2000's me would be right at home. However, what I use on a daily basis is Only Office that I have in a docker hosted alongside my NextCloud docker. Only Office integrates well with NextCloud.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I can get past the jank UI, and use it all the time if my network is too slow to use Drive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

For basic word processing and excel like items I’ve used it and recommend it for others. Especially when I’m on my Linux desktop. I’ve used it for some small businesses as well so they could open and send files for work.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I've tried to use it on my personal MacBook before, but the MacOS UI seems clunkier than what I've seen on Windows. Also, I have run into a few compatibility/layout problems with Word Docs and Excel Files. Lastly, the icon is basically just a white rectangle which I find offputting for some reason.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

i just started using it. admittedly, a rarely do, but it's great

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

LibreOffice is eons better than any bullshit microsoft product

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Sure, used it at a job this past year, writer and calc.

After spending a couple of days to secure a PC to be able to do my job I was not going to spend another week getting them to find me an office license.

Had no issues with sharing documents with colleagues (except excel not parsing a regex from calc) or with the public. Way more issues with people not actually understanding how to use word and excel and do proper formatting. Calc also had a gui method to multi-criteria filtering that the various versions of excel around the office did not.

I also used Impress to edit some PDFs for another older gig. Bit clunky and you must have the fonts used in the original. Just remember a pdf may be a hassle to edit but it is editable and not proof of anything (on it's own).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I do, on Windows (boo-womp). It really does the job well, but I need some more time to get used to it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't need any office program very often but LibreOffice is my go-to if I have a choice. I prefer flatpacks for the quickest updates.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I used it until I had to do a mail merge... it took me 2 hours before I finally gave up and did it in MS Word in 5 minutes. I'd love a libre replacement for MS Word, but not one that has just as janky an interface and doesn't actually do what I need it to do.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Tbh, I use a proprietary office with native Linux support. But I plan to switch back to a Foss option soon.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use it even on windows. I don't think it is good, one of annoyance is to open a document and discover a photo is out of place (even in odf). but there is just no alternative.

Fortunately, for most of my serious writing, I use latex.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I find Only office to be quite good. For what it does.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I avoid MS Office like the plague. Absolutely hate it. Libre Office isn't perfect, but at least it's not MS Office.

I also like Libre's Excel program much better than Microsoft's. It doesn't crash constantly, for starters.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Does anyone actually use Google docs?
https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/typical-mind-fallacy
https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/mind-projection-fallacy

Now that that's out of the way...
yes, all the time. It's the best for linux 8) Wish theming was better though tbh

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