I had been using OpenOffice but then something made my documents read only. So I learned about LibreOffice and downloaded it and have abandoned OpenOffice. LibreOffice works fine except that it keeps disappearing off my desktop and I have to download it all over again. This has happened more than twice now with no explanation or notice.
Could it have something to do with my security programs?
To get a relevant answer, please, edit your question (don’t use an answer, this is only additional information) to mention your OS name (and if possible LO version) and if you have automatic OS updates enabled.
What do you mean with “disappearing off my desktop”? It sounds like only the symlinks have been removed and not that the software was uninstalled. How did you check if the software was “removed” ?
I will assume that you have Windows.
Desktop in Windows is not a secure place to store things, it can get reset (wipe everything there and just restore system default icons) with System Restore or potentially a badly behaved Windows update.
Is LibreOffice in the Start menu? If you can’t see it on the desktop it is more likely to still be in the Start Menu.
Your security software was the reason that OpenOffice could not write to your folders. See question 267726