LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

｢ Interest in LibreOffice, the open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, is on the rise, with weekly downloads of its software package close to 1 million a week. That’s the highest download number since 2023 ｣

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3840480/libreoffice-downloads-on-the-rise-as-users-look-to-avoid-subscription-costs.html

I support, financially, a range of open source projects (such as Gnome, Mastodon, Immich etc.)

Given the importance of web browsers I really would not mind paying for a web browser, monthly subscription. Please enable me to do this?

@Vivaldi @mozilla

Dear writers and bloggers. A subscription model requiring me to sign up for a paid subscription to read your individual writing does not work.

Using this model, paying to access the work of every writer I want to follow quickly scales into the absurd.

There needs to be an alternate ‘collective’ system.

I used to subscribe to Apple Music and then stopped. When I subscribed again, I had lost all my hand-curated playlists that I had carefully crafted over the years.

I’m done with this subscription-based life where everything you cherish can and will be taken away from you. So I took the radical decision to own my music, like we used to when iPods were fashionable.

And you can too.

https://ergaster.org/posts/2025/02/14-you-can-own-music/

Hey everyone, I'm launching a yearly physical zine subscription via @opencollective !
If you would like to receive #Fodongo Zines in your mail as soon as they come out, please check it out!

https://opencollective.com/fodongo/contribute/zine-subscription-experimental-84682

"Lieber Erik,

tatsächlich bin ich Dein einziger Abonnent? Was ist los mit Deinen anderen Leuten? Und überhaupt der ganzen Welt?

Das ist doch ein famoser Log, den Du schreibst. Allein für diesen Grünkohl-Skalierungs-Text lohnt es sich doch wohl zu abonnieren."

https://steadyhq.com/de/blogfrei/about#js-publication_plans

#Newsletter #500Zeichen #Blog #Subscription

I have #Substack blocked at the DNS level, because I never, ever, ever, want to read anything on that site.

Substack's whole thing is "the #subscription network", and the only people who use it are people who have bought into #neoliberalism hook, line, and sinker.

The #influencea epidemic is already overwhelming, and trying to nickel and dime us to death with $1/mo here, $2/mo there, $5/mo over there. I'm looking at you, too, Patreon.

I'm not your livestock, not your farm. #NaziBar

#press #subscription
So, I had this idea a while ago, because I got disgusted with the NYT op ed and their editors in general, but some of the journalists were really good. Same with WP.

I know I can subscribe to an author's xitter feed or whatever, but I really would like the entire article. I'm honestly not adverse to paying for stuff, but I'm simply fed-up with what is clearly a billionaire owned media industry.

So, imagine if you could go to a website and select from a list of journalists. Just them. Their own titles, their own unedited articles. And Pay for that as one chunk.

I'd pay $20/month if I could get a set of articles from "today" that only was authors that I actually respect, and aren't "owned" by any billionaire.

I wish we could turn it on its head and be like, "this journalist is making a living already, and has X followers. If you want *the same* artcles for reprint in your paper, you can get a reprint subscription from them, rather than owning them.

@lucasmz no, it's a #Shitcoin #scam and @signalapp knew it from day 1, thus they are complicit in it.

• Instead of doing a #VCMoneyBurningParty, #Signal could do the responsible ans sustainable thing and be a #subscription #service that doesn't collect #PII and #shills an obvious #PumpAndDump!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobileCoin
https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/mobilecoin

Apparently this was making the rounds and I just saw this! I think this may be fake but... there have been reports of Logitech floating the idea of a subscription model for these devices! Unbelievable! https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/logitech-has-an-idea-for-a-forever-mouse-thatrequires-a-subscription/ #Enshittification #subscription #capitalismsucks #capitalism #technology

TLDR: contact Microsoft Sales close to your subscription ending and they should be able to put you on Classic:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/sales-support#

So, I received the #Microsoft notice that my personal plan would be increasing in price and including the AI as default. There were reports overseas of being able to select a "classic" plan option which didn't include AI, but this wasn't visible to me.

Support chat used Quick Assist to remote into my computer (!) to verify that the Classic option was not available to me, but were unable to help.

After a couple of Support chats, I was finally put in touch with the Sales team, and advised that because I cannot do it myself, they can change it now, but I'd lose the remaining months left on my plan (8 months)!

So their advice is to contact them when the plan is expiring and they will do it then. A pain in the arse, but a potential workaround.

I asked why the Classic option was not available to me, and they claimed it's because of region restrictions (the classic plan is only available in Australia, NZ, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand - I am in Australia), because my subscription type was not a Personal plan (it is), or a technical issue.

And definitely not because Microsoft want to keep people paying inflated prices for services they don't want.

Proud to announce that today ends my Adobe subscription. I had it for about 10 years. But no more!
I have not used Photoshop at all last year, and Adobe was quietly eating my money each month. The subscription reminder email finally ended this silliness.
On a sad note - it also somehow puts the final dot to my fine art photography hobby and all associated aspirations :(

(Sigh.. My dream of shooting gay porn never came to life.. Oh no...)

#adobe
#photoshop
#photography
#subscription
#theend

Apparently #Toshiba rushed #HDDVD so hard to the market they literally released a #Pentium4-based #Linux box with a #Desktop #Drive as their first #Player...

• Any #veteran #KernelDevs and #FLOSS #Lawyers wanna pull a #BusyBox and beat the HD-DVD specs out of them in court?

Please, go ahead!

• And yes, #Microsoft prolonged the #FormatWar at the expense ob #bluray solely to get their #Streaming and #Download business off the ground.

So in the format war of blu-ray vs HD-DVD vs #HDVMD (yes you read right there existed a 3rd format, HD-VMD, that just tried to do absurd layer numbers to still use red lasers and be in theory cheaper to make discs and drives for!), the real winner are shitty Streaming Services like #Netflix and the like.

• Tho I still think #BitTorrent owns them all as #delistings and absurdly high #subscription fees and lack of #physical releases at reasonable prices resurged #piracy , but that's just me #ReadingTheRoom and saying the obvious thing noone wants to admit.

I just don't pirate so I can talk about it!