Isn’t just awkward that you use a different app? How do you explain?
Sadly I can’t. The only approved software I can use is Office on Windows.
No problem and no need to explain. LibreOffice is commonplace at my place of work.
I haven’t really looked into it, but what are the options for VBA macro writing in excel alternatives?
Most of the time I use MarkDown and export as PDF, if I need more complex layouts I’ll use Libre Office
I only use LibreOffice and don’t tell anyone. It has only been a problem once when a client wanted me to use Word so she could keep track of changes. As a freelancer I wasn’t about to go and use Word for one client. I just submitted the work as a PDF and they never brought it up again.
I don’t. I just export to PDF if I need them to see formatting the same.
“Hey, I never liked Office 365, Microsoft as a company and all the Cloud shenanigans… And have you noticed how their products all become shittier and more invasive by the day? All while they increase subscription price each year now to finance all the AI stuff I rarely use? I’m a long-term fan of this other product, called XYZ which is just better in every aspect. No offense. If you want me to send you a link…”
(Edit: It’ll become easier after a while. At some point they all know you’re a Linux nerd and disassembled your wifi router at home, dishwasher… To get rid of proprietary spy components. And people will deliberately decide to listen to your opinion and lengthy rant, or make an effort to not bring up the topic 😆 At that point, you’re relatively free to speak your mind… Just read the room a bit. The goal isn’t to annoy people.)
I think that will really help if you really need to explain lol. Yeah, tell them you’re a nerd, that’s why!
Hehe. It depends a bit on the social group. But most people will be aware of it before I even open my mouth… Dunno, maybe it’s the long hair, or Debian t-shirt or something like that. But I rarely have to (verbally) disclose the fact I’m a nerd 😉 There’s some danger of confusion with the metalheads, but you know, people can fulfill several stereotypes simultaneously, so… confusion avoided…
I will use whatever they will provide me. If i am to use Microsoft products, so be it. Not only that, but I don’t give a flying fuck for the company’s data i work for. They asked for it 🙃
Thanks to the behaviour of the American Government the past year, it has become really easy. Everybody suddenly understand and respect the argument of boycotting american products and software.
Depends on how long you’ve been working. After some amount of time like a year or two you can drop it into a conversation when helping a person “oh, I actually use libre office so I’m not sure where MS put that, let me check” and if they want more info they’ll ask. Sometimes they might be surprised that you can actually do this stuff on Linux.
I use it because it works for me.
“Oh yeah, I use that too.”
I was asked by a friend of the family why I had to “mod” everything, “You make it all so it doesn’t work right!”
…because “working right” in this day and age is a privacy nightmare, a security disaster, and relinquishing your rights, duh! Then I asked her how much the lawyer cost to understand what she’s agreeing to in all the EULAs of services she’s signed up for just to make things “work right”.
I would never tell them how I do stuff unprompted. If they ask I’ll vaguely tell them because I suck at lying but no specifics.
You don’t. Enjoy better, faster and more effective software and laugh when their shot breaks.



