Ask HN: Why hasn't OnlyOffice see higher adoption than LibreOffice? OnlyOffice is a free and open-source (AGPL license) office suite that seems more polished and easier to use than LibreOffice. LibreOffice, compared to OnlyOffice, feels clunky, harder to use and dated. Why hasn't it seem more adoption compared to LibreOffice, especially by Linux distros? Why is LibreOffice favored over OnlyOffice? |
I just downloaded it to try it out, and it looks really nice, although it completely ignores my system theme stuff so it looks extremely ugly, but that's beside the point because LibreOffice is far uglier.
There's also the fact that OnlyOffice is made by a company for profit, and that turns a lot of FOSS away. Many, including me, are into FOSS because of some underlying anti-capitalist reasons and avoid it out of principle (though I'll admit I simply didn't know of its existence).
And their website doesn't help at all - https://www.onlyoffice.com/ - At first, I thought it is selling some kind of add-on for Businesses to use with Microsoft Office. Then I clicked "Get it now" and saw a page that gives me options to download a Docker Image, or Cloud Images or VM Images. What the heck? Then I see the "GET OnlyOffice" link in the navigation menu and go to it - the menu pop-up talks about DocSpace, Enterprise, Workspace etc. etc. and asks to sign-in for cloud. Again, what the heck?? Then I go to the PRODUCT link that also pop-ups lot of options - like - Doc editors to integrate into your business platform .... ??? Then I see the "Desktop and Mobile Apps" option in it and click 'For Desktop'. And finally, here I find what I had been searching for - Get free desktop office suite for document editing and collaboration ( https://www.onlyoffice.com/desktop.aspx ).
When a website is designed to be "Enterprisey" - only targetting and catering to a particular audience, and totally ignores everyone else - I am not surprised its user-base is limited. As others pointed out, it doesn't seem like a place where you find free open-source software.
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I downloaded and installed it to try it out, and when I opened it, the first thing I am greeted with, without any warning or information, is a pop-up by the OS informing me that OnlyOffice wants access to my "Chromium Safe Storage" ( https://imgur.com/a/yjA3aJo ). That felt weird and confusing.
But yeah, overall, it does seem more polished than LibreOffice, with a better UI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnlyOffice#Ownership
The ownership info for the holding company doesn't appear to be public info, so it's definitely possible the move was just a bullshit exercise to avoid sanctions.
No real idea personally though.