For many years now OpenOffice has been the staple of many an open sources tool box, providing the power of the Microsoft Office suite without the hefty price tag, however, a recent takeover of Sun by Oracle created a fork in the OpenOffice community. Many staying true to the brand and it’s new owner’s beliefs, with others forking off to create ‘The Document Foundation‘ which is where LibreOffice was born.
LibreOffice is developed by it’s users in a new community-driven style. It’s community is wide spread with a very varied background, and although I can’t personally vouch for them, Lorna Mitchell assured me that they are a great group of people. Although I am not currently in a position to start developing for open source products, it’s certainly something I would like to do.
I recently downloaded LibreOffice after my MacBook’s drive failed and I lost my Ms Office media. First impressions are good, although I am not a heavy user. The interface seems somewhat familiar to the Ms Office and OpenOffice products, everything is just where it should be! I am a particular fan of the fact it appears to be ‘all under one app’, in that you select what you want to do from a main menu.
The applications seem stable and quick, and offer everything you could ask for without forking out hundreds of pounds.
LibreOffice also offers ‘Macro’ support, which not only can be done using LibreOffice’s own take on normal VBA but with Python, BeanShell or Javascript as well.
Why chose LibreOffice over OpenOffice? Well that would be personal preference I guess. My reasons are because I love being on the bleeding edge, and with it being as young as it is, I am looking forward to watching it develop, and who knows, hopefully I’ll get involved soon! If you would like to see a breakdown of LibreOffice vs. OpenOffice just Google.
You can download LibreOffice from the official website.
Perhaps you use an alternative to the two? If so, post a comment below.