this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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Looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office for the Linux.

I've already tried:

  • LibreOffice (It doesn't have the same experience as Microsoft's apps.)
  • OnlyOffice Desktop Editors (I like it)

What else would you recommend?

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[–] mvirts 56 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Once you get used to libreoffice ms office will feel like a gimmicky toy

[–] semperverus 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You haven't used LibreOffice's pivot tables have you?

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[–] TCB13 48 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Stick with LibreOffice , you'll get used and it is most likely the best alternative.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

You could always do in-browser Office if nothing else works. Or g-suite

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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

I am currently forced to use Excel online for work. Such a frustrating experience. And I can't even edit it offline, because the conversion between two languages and two versions doesn't work properly.

Libreoffice has it's problems too, but it feels much more 'friendly' somehow.

[–] mypasswordis1234 4 points 1 year ago

Over my dead body...

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@mypasswordis1234
OnlyOffice is good. Very similar to MS office

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I think you'll be pretty disappointed with anything else that's available. Of those two I'd say stick with OnlyOffice.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

honestly, I've only clicked on this post because of your username

"Foss Microsoft Office for Linux actually it isn't in Opensource"

[–] mypasswordis1234 2 points 1 year ago

Look at my username, then at my displayname 😉

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah I see. So LibreOffice for local stuff, then OnlyOffice for the google docs type of work

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

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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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why did Linus start developing Linux when he could have just contributed to FreeBSD which already existed?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

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

It's bloatware and adware imo.

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