14 ms·

LibreOffice 6.1 released

169 points by mksaunders 8y ago

sjmulder 8y ago
To continue navigation on the website, you need to acknowledge our privacy policy Policy not linked or displayed. After clicking "Privacy Preferences": As the protection of your personal data is an important concern for us, please click on the "More information" link to access our Privacy Policy page No such links anywhere in that thing. But there is one in the page footer: https://www.documentfoundation.org/about-us/privacy/ https://www.documentfoundation.org/about-us/privacy/ 301 about-us/privacy/ 302 privacy/ 301 about-us/privacy/ ...
- mrob 8y ago
  I browse with Javascript disabled by default, so I didn't know they were doing this. Why does the Document Foundation need to track me? Is LibreOffice itself doing something sneaky that I don't know about? I'd expect this kind of behavior from Facebook or Google, not a Free Software charitable foundation. Seeing that pop-up when I enabled Javascript made me think less of the Document Foundation. If they have a legitimate need for tracking, e.g. user logins for a forum, they can present the warning at the time the user interacts with it.
  - mksaunders 8y ago
    > Why does the Document Foundation need to track me? It's not "tracking" (in the sense of monitoring what you do on other sites). On the LibreOffice website, we use the open source stats tool Matomo (formerly Piwik) to get an overview of how people use the site, how people go from one page to another, so that we can improve it. Lots of FOSS projects do this. Also, as explained in the privacy policy, JavaScript is required if you want to use certain third-party services that are embedded into some pages: https://www.libreoffice.org/about-us/privacy/privacy-policy-en/ https://www.libreoffice.org/about-us/privacy/privacy-policy-... > Is LibreOffice itself doing something sneaky that I don't know about? Of course not. We're a volunteer-driven, community open source project. It's all in the open :-) If you really want to change how the website works, we'd appreciate a hand: website+subscribe@global.libreoffice.org - thanks!
    - WorkLifeBalance 8y ago
      1. What you've described as 'not "tracking" ' is tracking. It's not third-party tracking but you're still deliberately adding a cookie for the purpose of tracking users across your site. 2. Your privacy policy contains: > !!!add opt-out frame on the website at this position!!!
      - mksaunders 8y ago
        > 1. What you've described as 'not "tracking" ' is tracking. It's not third-party tracking but you're still deliberately adding a cookie for the purpose of tracking users across your site. OK, we're using open source tools to try to improve the site. Plenty of other FOSS projects do this... Not sure why we're being singled out :-)
        mcbits 8y ago
        It sounds like it's more intrusive than most of the GDPR cookie notice spam that's been appearing on sites. But if it's causing users to start noticing and asking questions about the tracking on web sites, then GDPR seems to be working. (uBlock Origin also seems to be working because I didn't see the notice.)
        anc84 8y ago
        You are not singled-out, this is a submission about you so it makes sense to talk about you. Everyone who tracks has improvements in mind.
        dspillett 8y ago
        > Not sure why we're being singled out Someone who cares has noticed, and enough other people care that the thread is getting upvoted enough to hit the front page of HN. Though still you are not being "singled" out as there are plenty of sites which have had their cookie/privacy/tracking/other behaviours picked apart recently. You are not the first/only and will not be the last!
        sjmulder 8y ago
        Not sure why we're being singled out :-) Didn't mean no harm or to single you guys out. You're doing fantastic work. But broken and noncompliant notices do bother me a bit. Sorry to drag on like this but the privacy statement (thanks for linking) says: takes place only with the consent of the user It does not, as there appears to be a second cookie notice underneath the first stating how consent is assumed: We use only those functional cookies which are absolutely necessary to ensure that we give you the best navigation experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with them. From my understanding, if you're using only functional cookies and no tracking you don't even need consent (as you have legal basis) and you can drop the notice altogether. But I don't think analytics count as functional cookies. Now aside from that nitpicking, thanks for writing such a clear privacy policy and making such good choices regarding the social media buttons, YouTube's privacy mode, and so on. Props!
- modzu 8y ago
  reflects how i remember the UI of libre - ugly. that said keep up the good work guys
  - mksaunders 8y ago
    Feel free to join the Design community and give us a hand - only with more input from volunteers will things get better! https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Design https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Design
    - modzu 8y ago
      yes, you're exactly right :) vive open source! to be clear i didn't mean for my comment above to sound sarcastic -- i know how much effort goes into a project like this and its appreciated by linux users the world over
nailer 8y ago
It would be great to actually see the new Windows theme, and the UI changes mentioned, in the actual blog post.
- sleepless 8y ago
  here you go: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1#Icon_Theme https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1#Icon_Th...
  - maaark 8y ago
    Thanks, I hate it. The old icons were far clearer as to their purpose. Save is now a download button in case children don't recognize a floppy...
    - mksaunders 8y ago
      Then simply use the older icons :-) EDIT: Three steps: 1. Go to Tools > Options in the menu 2. Click View on the left 3. Then choose Icon style on the right
      - wila 8y ago
        > Then simply use the older icons :-) Simple for you doesn't mean simple for other people. Without writing down the steps on exactly how-to use the older icons, it doesn't equate to simple in my opinion. IOW, you probably had done yourself a favor to not use the word "simply".
        mksaunders 8y ago
        I was referring to the fact that he "hated" the icons - it's not the end of the world, as you can use the old ones. But you're right, I've added the three steps to my original post!
        wila 8y ago
ronjouch 8y ago
Detailed changelog: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1 https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1
stef25 8y ago
Way better than any Office alternative but also extremely sluggish on my machine. I just use it to read csv files and even at that it's abnormally slow.
- mksaunders 8y ago
  I use it on Linux and macOS and it's pretty fast with CSV files (although I'm not sure how large the ones you're using are!) If it's specific CSV files that are causing an issue, and you don't mind sharing them, you could attach them to a bug report: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org https://bugs.documentfoundation.org Also try resetting your profile in case that's an issue: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile#Resolving_corruption https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile#Resolving_co...
  - stef25 8y ago
    25MB files "work" but still abnormally slow for my 16GB RAM machine, 200MB files forget it. I'll do some more testing and report.
    - neverminder 8y ago
      I can confirm that large CSVs are dog slow on libreoffice. If excel can do it a lot faster (which it can) this should definitely be logged as a bug.
baronseng 8y ago
Just download it and compare to 6.0 it seems the startup time are heaps better.
kqr 8y ago
I have grown increasingly disinterested in Office Suites, and in particular word processors, over time. When composing documents, I prefer to let the final production medium to dictate the production process. (If I don't, I tend to run into issues relating to the final product that are costly to overcome late in the process.) With this mindset, I still haven't found the use case for word processors. If I aim for something to be designed well in print, it makes most sense to use a desktop publishing tool like Scribus. For the web, something like Org or Markdown covers 99% of the use cases. Org or manually writing LaTeX is good for print use when fancy designs are not key. What do you people use word processors for?
- geff82 8y ago
  Excellent question. I have found that I need office suites less and less. The reason I still have an Office365 subscription is for Onedrive and Onenote, for the few remaining classic documents I use Libreoffice because I found that I almost never exchange pure .doc-files with anyone, so no focus on perfect compatibility is needed and I do not want to grow some dependency on Microsoft somehow (nothing against MS, I just like independence). To answer your question: I only use Libreoffice to write write the occasional letter to state authorities and to write my invoices (which are few). For serious documents, I exclusively use LaTeX as I love not having to care about layout details (it sometimes takes time to figure new stuff out, like putting graphics into the perfect place, but when a deadline is near, the layouting is nothing I have to care about any more).
  - kqr 8y ago
    Letters! Good point! I'd probably still prefer having a letterhead template in Scribus and author in plain text, but I can totally see why most people would consider that overkill and instead use a word processor to combine the two tasks.
- ChristianBundy 8y ago
  I use word processors to work with other people. I can't tell you how many times I've been sent .doc, .ppt, .xls, or other Microsoft file formats that have become ubiquitous in the modern workplace.
vxNsr 8y ago
Congrats on pushing out an updated UI, often one of the biggest complaints people have against OSS is the outdated UI the permeate the space because it's one of the hardest things to get right and it takes so much time to change. I think these new icons and menus look wonderful. It's especially impressive because LibreOffice doesn't really seem to have any big corporate backers like other OSS projects, and yet they seem to be holding on. I don't think I've seen LO installed in any corporate environment, and I'd imagine that MS Office holds like 95% of the market, so I do appreciate this alternative.
amenonsen 8y ago
I find it a bit strange that I have to download the LibreOffice "built-in" help package separately.

169 points by mksaunders 8y ago

To continue navigation on the website, you need to acknowledge our privacy policy Policy not linked or displayed. After clicking "Privacy Preferences": As the protection of your personal data is an important concern for us, please click on the "More information" link to access our Privacy Policy page No such links anywhere in that thing. But there is one in the page footer: https://www.documentfoundation.org/about-us/privacy/ https://www.documentfoundation.org/about-us/privacy/ 301 about-us/privacy/ 302 privacy/ 301 about-us/privacy/ ...

mrob 8y ago
I browse with Javascript disabled by default, so I didn't know they were doing this. Why does the Document Foundation need to track me? Is LibreOffice itself doing something sneaky that I don't know about? I'd expect this kind of behavior from Facebook or Google, not a Free Software charitable foundation. Seeing that pop-up when I enabled Javascript made me think less of the Document Foundation. If they have a legitimate need for tracking, e.g. user logins for a forum, they can present the warning at the time the user interacts with it.
- mksaunders 8y ago
  > Why does the Document Foundation need to track me? It's not "tracking" (in the sense of monitoring what you do on other sites). On the LibreOffice website, we use the open source stats tool Matomo (formerly Piwik) to get an overview of how people use the site, how people go from one page to another, so that we can improve it. Lots of FOSS projects do this. Also, as explained in the privacy policy, JavaScript is required if you want to use certain third-party services that are embedded into some pages: https://www.libreoffice.org/about-us/privacy/privacy-policy-en/ https://www.libreoffice.org/about-us/privacy/privacy-policy-... > Is LibreOffice itself doing something sneaky that I don't know about? Of course not. We're a volunteer-driven, community open source project. It's all in the open :-) If you really want to change how the website works, we'd appreciate a hand: website+subscribe@global.libreoffice.org - thanks!
  - WorkLifeBalance 8y ago
    1. What you've described as 'not "tracking" ' is tracking. It's not third-party tracking but you're still deliberately adding a cookie for the purpose of tracking users across your site. 2. Your privacy policy contains: > !!!add opt-out frame on the website at this position!!!
    - mksaunders 8y ago
      > 1. What you've described as 'not "tracking" ' is tracking. It's not third-party tracking but you're still deliberately adding a cookie for the purpose of tracking users across your site. OK, we're using open source tools to try to improve the site. Plenty of other FOSS projects do this... Not sure why we're being singled out :-)
      - mcbits 8y ago
        It sounds like it's more intrusive than most of the GDPR cookie notice spam that's been appearing on sites. But if it's causing users to start noticing and asking questions about the tracking on web sites, then GDPR seems to be working. (uBlock Origin also seems to be working because I didn't see the notice.)
      - anc84 8y ago
        You are not singled-out, this is a submission about you so it makes sense to talk about you. Everyone who tracks has improvements in mind.
      - dspillett 8y ago
        > Not sure why we're being singled out Someone who cares has noticed, and enough other people care that the thread is getting upvoted enough to hit the front page of HN. Though still you are not being "singled" out as there are plenty of sites which have had their cookie/privacy/tracking/other behaviours picked apart recently. You are not the first/only and will not be the last!
      - sjmulder 8y ago
        Not sure why we're being singled out :-) Didn't mean no harm or to single you guys out. You're doing fantastic work. But broken and noncompliant notices do bother me a bit. Sorry to drag on like this but the privacy statement (thanks for linking) says: takes place only with the consent of the user It does not, as there appears to be a second cookie notice underneath the first stating how consent is assumed: We use only those functional cookies which are absolutely necessary to ensure that we give you the best navigation experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with them. From my understanding, if you're using only functional cookies and no tracking you don't even need consent (as you have legal basis) and you can drop the notice altogether. But I don't think analytics count as functional cookies. Now aside from that nitpicking, thanks for writing such a clear privacy policy and making such good choices regarding the social media buttons, YouTube's privacy mode, and so on. Props!
modzu 8y ago
reflects how i remember the UI of libre - ugly. that said keep up the good work guys
- mksaunders 8y ago
  Feel free to join the Design community and give us a hand - only with more input from volunteers will things get better! https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Design https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Design
  - modzu 8y ago
    yes, you're exactly right :) vive open source! to be clear i didn't mean for my comment above to sound sarcastic -- i know how much effort goes into a project like this and its appreciated by linux users the world over

nailer 8y ago

It would be great to actually see the new Windows theme, and the UI changes mentioned, in the actual blog post.

sleepless 8y ago
here you go: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1#Icon_Theme https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1#Icon_Th...
- maaark 8y ago
  Thanks, I hate it. The old icons were far clearer as to their purpose. Save is now a download button in case children don't recognize a floppy...
  - mksaunders 8y ago
    Then simply use the older icons :-) EDIT: Three steps: 1. Go to Tools > Options in the menu 2. Click View on the left 3. Then choose Icon style on the right
    - wila 8y ago
      > Then simply use the older icons :-) Simple for you doesn't mean simple for other people. Without writing down the steps on exactly how-to use the older icons, it doesn't equate to simple in my opinion. IOW, you probably had done yourself a favor to not use the word "simply".
      - mksaunders 8y ago
        I was referring to the fact that he "hated" the icons - it's not the end of the world, as you can use the old ones. But you're right, I've added the three steps to my original post!
        wila 8y ago

ronjouch 8y ago

Detailed changelog: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1 https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.1

stef25 8y ago

Way better than any Office alternative but also extremely sluggish on my machine. I just use it to read csv files and even at that it's abnormally slow.

mksaunders 8y ago
I use it on Linux and macOS and it's pretty fast with CSV files (although I'm not sure how large the ones you're using are!) If it's specific CSV files that are causing an issue, and you don't mind sharing them, you could attach them to a bug report: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org https://bugs.documentfoundation.org Also try resetting your profile in case that's an issue: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile#Resolving_corruption https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile#Resolving_co...
- stef25 8y ago
  25MB files "work" but still abnormally slow for my 16GB RAM machine, 200MB files forget it. I'll do some more testing and report.
  - neverminder 8y ago
    I can confirm that large CSVs are dog slow on libreoffice. If excel can do it a lot faster (which it can) this should definitely be logged as a bug.

baronseng 8y ago

Just download it and compare to 6.0 it seems the startup time are heaps better.

kqr 8y ago

I have grown increasingly disinterested in Office Suites, and in particular word processors, over time. When composing documents, I prefer to let the final production medium to dictate the production process. (If I don't, I tend to run into issues relating to the final product that are costly to overcome late in the process.) With this mindset, I still haven't found the use case for word processors. If I aim for something to be designed well in print, it makes most sense to use a desktop publishing tool like Scribus. For the web, something like Org or Markdown covers 99% of the use cases. Org or manually writing LaTeX is good for print use when fancy designs are not key. What do you people use word processors for?

geff82 8y ago
Excellent question. I have found that I need office suites less and less. The reason I still have an Office365 subscription is for Onedrive and Onenote, for the few remaining classic documents I use Libreoffice because I found that I almost never exchange pure .doc-files with anyone, so no focus on perfect compatibility is needed and I do not want to grow some dependency on Microsoft somehow (nothing against MS, I just like independence). To answer your question: I only use Libreoffice to write write the occasional letter to state authorities and to write my invoices (which are few). For serious documents, I exclusively use LaTeX as I love not having to care about layout details (it sometimes takes time to figure new stuff out, like putting graphics into the perfect place, but when a deadline is near, the layouting is nothing I have to care about any more).
- kqr 8y ago
  Letters! Good point! I'd probably still prefer having a letterhead template in Scribus and author in plain text, but I can totally see why most people would consider that overkill and instead use a word processor to combine the two tasks.
ChristianBundy 8y ago
I use word processors to work with other people. I can't tell you how many times I've been sent .doc, .ppt, .xls, or other Microsoft file formats that have become ubiquitous in the modern workplace.

vxNsr 8y ago

Congrats on pushing out an updated UI, often one of the biggest complaints people have against OSS is the outdated UI the permeate the space because it's one of the hardest things to get right and it takes so much time to change. I think these new icons and menus look wonderful. It's especially impressive because LibreOffice doesn't really seem to have any big corporate backers like other OSS projects, and yet they seem to be holding on. I don't think I've seen LO installed in any corporate environment, and I'd imagine that MS Office holds like 95% of the market, so I do appreciate this alternative.

amenonsen 8y ago

I find it a bit strange that I have to download the LibreOffice "built-in" help package separately.