Get used to LibreOffice. It's the most actively maintained, well-made opensource office software.
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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An underrated feature of LibreOffice is the ability to insert the original document inside a PDF when exporting. If you reopen that PDF in LibreOffice, it will grab the embedded copy for editing instead of trying to guess how to convert the PDF into its original.
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Once you get used to libreoffice ms office will feel like a gimmicky toy
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Stick with LibreOffice , you'll get used and it is most likely the best alternative.
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You can easily change LibreOffice to have a tabbed layout like MSOffice (view > user interface). The only thing to note is that LibreOffice has great documentation, but it can be a bit difficult to follow with a different layout.
Nothing has exactly the same experience as MS. I don't think there is a clone project for it.
The two you listed are your best options.
Does LibreOffice have any issues that prevent you using it? If not, it's probably that your expectations are set by your comfort and familiarity with Office and that is the problem you need to solve.
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You could always do in-browser Office if nothing else works. Or g-suite
I can't speak for the whole suite, but Excel sucks in the browser. The browser version do not have all the same features as desktop. I only use Office if I'm forced to and use LibreOffice or Latex otherwise
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Over my dead body...
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I think you'll be pretty disappointed with anything else that's available. Of those two I'd say stick with OnlyOffice.
honestly, I've only clicked on this post because of your username
"Foss Microsoft Office for Linux actually it isn't in Opensource"
Look at my username, then at my displayname 😉
Is there a reason a few are being developed rather than focussing on one? Are there key differences/use cases for each of them?
LibreOffice vs. OpenOffice vs. OnlyOffice
I remember once reading that one of them (or some other FOSS alternative) was bad for privacy/FOSS, but I can't find that anymore
Basically the only commits to OpenOffice now are things a full project lint would catch. There are some security updates here and there. Last I looked it’s basically one dev fixing spacing.
Forkers gonna fork. OnlyOffice seemed like it was going after Google Docs, but with a MSOffice look and feel. The live sharing and editing worked well when I tested it.
Ah I see. So LibreOffice for local stuff, then OnlyOffice for the google docs type of work
Not quite. OnlyOffice has an offline/local suite too. When most people talk about OnlyOffice, they are usually referring to the local suite.
OnlyOffice has better compatibility with MS Office file formats (and a similar UI), so some people prefer it over LO.
The downside is that because the UI is written in HTML5, it's slow and sometimes clunky compared to LO, which is (mostly) a native app. This is especially visible with large spreadsheets - OO takes a long time to render them, whereas in LO they open in a reasonable time.
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Why should all the developers suddenly decide to give up their own project and collaborate?
Their goal isn't to take over the entire market, since the software is free and there really isn't a "market" in that sense.
I remember once reading that one of them (or some other FOSS alternative) was bad for privacy/FOSS, but I can't find that anymore
Not sure if you're thinking of WPS Office (formerly known as Kingsoft Office). It's development is funded by the Chinese government, but although Kingsoft claim that the Linux version is developed by the community, they haven't really published the source code anywhere, so it's considered a high-risk software.
It's bloatware and adware imo.
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Why did Linus start developing Linux when he could have just contributed to FreeBSD which already existed?
No, it didn't. FreeBSD didn't exist until 1993. 386BSD wasn't until 1992. Linus has said that if a free, unencumbered BSD for PCs existed in 1991, he indeed would not have made Linux.
Well I'm an idiot then.
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