# LibreOffice?



## sharkerbaby (Jan 15, 2016)

Anyone using or have used LibreOffice?? If you have, how do/did you like it? Is it feature rich or lacking? Do/did you have trouble sharing documents or opening those saved in other formats? What are your overall thoughts on the software suite?

Ages ago, I used its predecessor OpenOffice so I imagine it would be a relatively smooth learning curve for me. 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Been using it for close to a year now. Very small learning curve from Office - main problem was finding where to turn on/off certain things and a few seconds with Google showed me where/how.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

While I use Microsoft Office, I have previewed LibreOffice and have found it to be a solid application that does pretty much everything I need. If something were to happen where I no longer had access to Office I would have no problem migrating to LibreOffice.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

I've used LibreOffice in the past. I ended up getting MSOffice Home because of formatting issues when sharing documents, presentations, etc. with others (business environment). For personal use it isn't bad.


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## Rural Kanuck (Apr 13, 2020)

I use Open Office, on which Libreoffice is based and have for years since I rejected most MS software years ago and the only problem I have encounterd is the inability of it to display some MS RTF files, perhaps newer versions or Loffice has found a way around that? I do set my files to default into MS format for compatibility for those shared files with others as most folks still seem to be stuck with high priced MS as opposed to open source software!


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## mrghostwalker (Feb 6, 2011)

I have been using LibreOffice exclusively for about 15 years. At home I use it on my Linux laptop (I haven;t had windows or Mac in my house for many years ). At work I installed it on my Windows desktop- because I reject Microsoft whenever possible. The can make me use Windows 10 in my office but I don't have to like it. 
I have found that LibreOffice often opens documents which Microsoft rejects. Just like Rural Kanuck I also save my documents at work in Windows format but at home I only same them as ODT ( the LibreOffice default). 
After all these years I see no reason to use the Microsoft version.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

I have used Libre and OpenOffice for a number of years. I actually prefer it's formatting and setup to the newer office suites. 

The only issue I've run into as of late is my export to PDF option decided to stop working for some reason. I'm sure it'll be a simple fix...just haven't had time to look at it yet!


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## Sebastian C (Jul 23, 2017)

Mike in Ohio said:


> I've used LibreOffice in the past. I ended up getting MSOffice Home because of formatting issues when sharing documents, presentations, etc. with others (business environment). For personal use it isn't bad.


For stuff like graphics and presentations etc I export to a pdf and then I get no anomalies. 

Libre office and open office are so small and lightweight compared to Microsoft office and they do all the same stuff. I truly don't understand what Ms office is doing in the background and I'm a relatively advanced user. 

A buddy who's a professional nerd told me that computers keep getting more powerful and programs heavier even though my needs and uses haven't changed over 20 years is because all our collective machines' resources get co-opted by the cloud and internet at large. Our machines support the cloud and internet when they're running. 

Makes sense to me from what I've observed. Not sure how much I like that. Been using libre office for years, about to switch to Linux except now that I'm done studying (never learning another thing I'm tired of this sh-t!) and I'm just a professional hillbilly I don't even have a computer I can call my own. Mine stopped working cuz I never turned it on, I use my wife's or kids for the odd important email, but mostly just the smartphone for time wasting.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

Sebastian C said:


> For stuff like graphics and presentations etc I export to a pdf and then I get no anomalies.


That works if you aren't editing. Trying to work with others is a problem with LibreOffice. I've also tried using Google Docs with mixed results.


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## 50ShadesOfDirt (Nov 11, 2018)

+1 to LibreOffice use ... It's my main beast for document tasks. As others have mentioned, it's part of the open source arsenal to avoid paying money to _anybody_, if you so choose. I have a hard time thinking of a paid app that can't be easily replaced by a free one. Work rules are different, but I've seen progressive companies where open source is a part of things ... from the apps to the OS. More power to them! Maybe we'll _all_ get to work from home, and skip the commute!

Take back your desktop or laptop from Microsoft and others, for all the reasons folks are listing above, including cloud/internet bs, and make it work for you again, vs you working for them!

For example, have you noticed that some places/products on the web just don't seem to offer a PDF of whatever it is you are looking into? You have to be "online" to read the help docs for it ... ridiculous! Pop open a LibreOffice doc, copy & paste the entire set of product help pages into it, and print it to PDF. I don't mind going online to do some research, but I hate that I have to _stay online_, 24 hours a day ... sorry ... where was I?

Oh yeah ... don't buy into "subscriptions" either ...


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

libraoffice is fine for creating documents. It however has issues if you need to share/collaborate with others who are not using libraoffice. If you just need to do nice documents and provide it to others, save it as a pdf and share that, not the raw changable file.


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## mrghostwalker (Feb 6, 2011)

Gary in ohio said:


> libraoffice is fine for creating documents. It however has issues if you need to share/collaborate with others who are not using libraoffice. If you just need to do nice documents and provide it to others, save it as a pdf and share that, not the raw changable file.


LibreOffice also can save documents in all the Microsoft versions.


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## flboisseau (Apr 27, 2017)

I have been using OpenOffice and LibreOffice for several years, and as the chief IT office for the small business I work for, I made it the default office application. For the most part, it is very compatible with Office and has been getting more compatible over the years. The main area where you might run into issues and where I have run into issues is with the more graphically intensive parts of the application. For example draw and impress, in both, I have encountered issues with the final document not looking exactly like the original when saved in the Office format and opened in Office. The other area where you will have compatibility issues is if you use the database application as that will not be easily moved between LibreOffice and Office. 

So for what most people use these types of applications for, such as documents and spreadsheets you should have no problem. For more complicated things you might occasionally run into issues where things do not format the same when shared, but even that is rarely an issue.

I will also point out that Google drive has no problem handling the LibreOffice file formats.


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## sharkerbaby (Jan 15, 2016)

Thank you everyone for your awesome feedback. It is very much appreciated. I, and those that may come after me, welcome thoughts from anyone else who may come along. As for myself, I plan to install LibreOffice tomorrow. Depending on how that goes, I may follow up here with my thoughts. Smooth and easy - may not provide additional praise. Rocky and troublesome - yep, I'll be back to relay my experience.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

mrghostwalker said:


> LibreOffice also can save documents in all the Microsoft versions.


While it can save it in the formats, When you bring it into office it may not display the same... 
My comment was if your shareing documents, share it as a PDF if there is no need for someone to modify a document.


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