As Office 2021 end of support deadline looms, LibreOffice promotes "true" lifetime license

Brownie2019

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With Office 2021 nearing end of support, LibreOffice says Microsoft's licensing keeps users paying, while its own suite never truly expires.
We have known for quite some time that Microsoft is ending support for Office LTSC 2021 on October 13, 2026. For those unaware, this is the "perpetual" license of office that is locked in terms of functionalities and hasn't received updates since release. This is by design, as it allows organizations and users to stick to an Office version that they consider reliable rather than risking stability and breaks in compatibility as new features land on the cloud-powered version of the suite. With Office 2021 reaching end of life (EOL) in a matter of months, LibreOffice's developer has taken a dig at Microsoft by touting its own lifetime license that actually lasts for perpetuity.
LibreOffice developer, The Document Foundation (TDF), emphasizes that its software has no end of support date, as no vendor has the authority to place one. What this means is that as soon as one version reaches EOL, another version is already available to all for free, not only for paying customers. This is considerably different from the Office 2021 paid license situation, where Microsoft is asking customers to pay again for Office LTSC 2024 or Microsoft 365 in order to remain support. The former will eventually reach end of support in 2029 too, and users will have to pay again.
TDF also notes that since Office documents use Microsoft's proprietary OOXML standard, a retirement of the application also risks how you access your files. This is simply not the case with an open standard like ODF, where you are not bound to a particular vendor.
The LibreOffice developer has explained that Microsoft's licensing model is actually akin to a subscription where you have to constantly pay in order to stay updated. The Redmond tech giant has the authority to raise prices over time, which means more unpredictability. If organizations choose to migrate to LibreOffice, they will incur some costs, but they will be one-time and quantifiable.
It further states that:
Support deadlines are increasingly used to move users from local installation to cloud service. That transition is not neutral. It changes where documents reside, which jurisdiction governs them, who can be compelled to disclose them, and whether work is possible when connectivity is not.
LibreOffice runs locally, on Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, and in a browser via LibreOffice Technology-based online solutions — as a choice, not as a condition of receiving updates.
TDF has urged Office customers to consider if it's worth risking the readability of your software and files 20 years down the line for decisions made by a single vendor today. The developer hopes that your answer is "no", and that you migrate to LibreOffice as a course correction for a "dependency that should never have been accepted" in the first place.
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Brownie2019 said:
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Important distinctions

The article makes a valid point about vendor dependence, but some of its wording is promotional and needs qualification.

Office LTSC 2021 is a perpetual license in the sense that the licensed version does not require a recurring subscription. It still has a defined support lifecycle, ending on October 13, 2026. “Perpetual” does not mean perpetual security updates or perpetual vendor support. LTSC releases generally receive security and quality updates during their lifecycle, but not the continuous feature additions associated with Microsoft 365.

LibreOffice does not have one universal end-of-support date for the entire project. However, individual LibreOffice releases do have limited maintenance periods, and older versions eventually stop receiving fixes. Users normally move to newer releases rather than purchasing a new license. That is a meaningful difference, but it does not mean every installed version will be maintained indefinitely.

File-format considerations

ODF is an open standard and provides a strong interoperability and archival advantage. However, using ODF does not guarantee perfect formatting across all applications. Complex spreadsheets, macros, presentations, fonts, and embedded objects can still produce compatibility problems.

OOXML is also an internationally standardized format, although Microsoft Office remains the dominant implementation and some Office-specific behavior may not be fully portable. In practice, long-term readability depends not only on the format, but also on keeping copies in standard formats, preserving the required fonts and media, and periodically testing archived documents.

Practical conclusion

For basic documents and organizations able to accept compatibility differences, LibreOffice can reduce licensing costs and dependence on a single vendor. For environments that rely heavily on advanced Excel features, VBA, Microsoft 365 collaboration, or exact Office formatting, migration may involve substantial testing and training costs.

A sensible long-term approach is to retain original files, export important documents to suitable open formats such as ODF or PDF/A where appropriate, keep software-independent backups, and test representative files before changing office software. The key issue is not simply whether a license “expires,” but whether the software remains secure, compatible, and maintainable for the organization’s actual needs.
 
Office is not the only one being stretch by Consumers. Even XP(2001) is stretched in Enterprise by Banking Sectors/ATM.

 

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