For the last decade, I’ve been using LibreOffice, an open-source office suite developed by The Document Foundation. “LibreOffice is community-driven and developed software, and is a project of the not-for-profit organization, The Document Foundation,” reads LibreOffice’s website.
LibreOffice is free to download for Windows PCs, Linux PCs, and macOS. There are no fees, ever. The Document Foundation doesn’t hit you up later for money or lock you out of specific features over time. You get the whole shebang—free and forever.
safe and stable
Now you’re wondering if it’s safe. Yes, it’s been vetted as safe and is regularly audited for safety. LibreOffice may not be a household name. Still, it’s well-known as a reputable and trustworthy piece of software in computer circles, ever since its first stable version was released in January 2011.
Not only that, but it’s stable. I’ve yet to lose a document because of a crash. On the infrequent occasions when the program crashes, it’s always been able to recover what I was working on since I started using LibreOffice in 2014.
Writer is LibreOffice’s word processor, and Calc is the spreadsheet app. These are the two main products of the LibreOffice software suite, the two that most people will probably use.
Included in each download of LibreOffice are Draw, for creating diagrams, Base, a front end for managing databases, Impress, a PowerPoint alternative, Math, a formula editor, and Charts, for making–well, you guessed it. Charts.
“LibreOffice is developed by users who, just like you, believe in the principles of Free Software and in sharing their work with the world in non-restrictive ways. At the core of these principles are the four essential freedoms…” reads their page on “who we are.“
You can read more about LibreOffice’s certification process and why it chooses to certify its software. Being community-run, localization efforts are spread among anyone who can help translate the software into various languages.
“Though the members of our community hail from many different backgrounds, we all value personal choice and transparency, which translates practically into wider compatibility, more utility, and no end-user lock-in to a single product.
“We believe that Free Software can provide better quality, higher reliability, increased security, and greater flexibility than proprietary alternatives.” LibreOffice isn’t available on iOS, iPadOS, or Android; it’s only available on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
They may not take your money when you download, but LibreOffice relies on donations. If you end up getting solid use out of it, consider sending a little something their way.
And if you’re looking for more nonprofit-run apps, check out this guide to my favorites.
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