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I've been using Linux on the desktop for years and have never missed Microsoft Office (except for Project, a little bit). Now seeing R1C1 notation is making me

I've been using Linux on the desktop for years and have never missed Microsoft Office (except for Project, a little bit). Now seeing R1C1 notation is making me want Excel... Any recommendations for FOSS spreadsheet software that supports R1C1 notation or that is generally better than LibreOffice Calc?

jldugger 10y ago
R1C1 isn't much different than normal calculation. You can already use $ for absolute row / column references.
- Tomte 10y ago
  The point is that it is much more intuitively understandable what happens when you fill whole columns with that formula. In R1C1 notation it's obvious because the formula doesn't change. In normal notation the exact same thing happens under the hood, but the cell references you're seeing change.
  - jldugger 10y ago
    Maybe, but named ranges make the whole thing somewhat moot. Your formulas should be human readable, ideally.
Tuna-Fish 10y ago
http://ccm.net/faq/24592-libreoffice-calc-switch-to-excel-r1c1-formula-syntax http://ccm.net/faq/24592-libreoffice-calc-switch-to-excel-r1... I recently had to use a spreadsheet for a first time in a few years, and LO Calc seemed to be dramatically better than OOo Calc back when I last used it.
riboflava 10y ago
http://www.gnumeric.org/ http://www.gnumeric.org/ is pretty good.
- ams6110 10y ago
  Unless it's improved quite a bit in the last few years, no it isn't very good.
  - mschaef 10y ago
    It's been a year or two since I've used it, but the last time I checked, it hasn't improved all that much. It was generally rather slow and limited. This is really a shame, because of Gnumeric's history. It was (along with Gimp) one of the very first GTK applications, and present at the beginning of the Gnome desktop suite.
- TallGuyShort 10y ago
  Thanks - I used Gnumeric on a netbook for a long time. It was indeed a good choice at a time when I needed something very lightweight. I do recall it being quite limited, however... I'd be pretty surprised if it had more of the features Joel Sposky was showcasing than Open/LibreOffice Calc.
catern 10y ago
It looks like LibreOffice Calc does actually support R1C1 notation. There is also the spreadsheet support in Emacs org-mode.
- flukus 10y ago
  +1 for org mode. There is also a table mode plugin for vim that's great (on smallish tables).
cdolan92 10y ago
To be honest I'd recommend an Office 365 subscription and use Excel in the browser, if you are unwilling to get a mac/windows installation with a desktop app. Perhaps its a 'purest' mentality, but if you're going to learn how to use a spreadsheet app, may as well learn the one that is most well known and widely used. As the video shows, Google Apps, Numbers, and the rest of them really are missing core features. Joel didn't even get into VBA scripting - thats some advanced stuff that once you realize you need it, but you're stuck in Google Apps...... well, maybe this crowd is smart enough just to make a web app to solve the issue haha! Myself? I stick to Excel.
- TallGuyShort 10y ago
  >> Perhaps its a 'purest' mentality, but if you're going to learn how to use a spreadsheet app It's not any more purist than sticking to FOSS :)
codemac 10y ago
The most interesting spreadsheet is http://siag.nu/siag/ http://siag.nu/siag/, but it's obviously not what you're looking for. Honestly? Excel is a premier application, that microsoft spends extreme amounts of effort making great. There isn't a FOSS spreadsheet program that really comes close. It's not that there can't be, it's that the excel line is moving faster forward than current FOSS spreadsheet projects.
saint_fiasco 10y ago
LibreOffice has R1C1 notation too. Go to Tools, Options, LibreOffice Calc, Formula and select "Excel R1C1" in the Formula syntax dropdown menu.
- TallGuyShort 10y ago
  Appreciated! Thought I had thoroughly checked that dialog yesterday. Not the first time I've wanted a "buy them a beer" button on HN.
bzbarsky 10y ago
Gnumeric supports R1C1 notation. It's a checkbox under the "Format" menu, "Sheet" submenu.

jldugger 10y ago

R1C1 isn't much different than normal calculation. You can already use $ for absolute row / column references.

Tomte 10y ago
The point is that it is much more intuitively understandable what happens when you fill whole columns with that formula. In R1C1 notation it's obvious because the formula doesn't change. In normal notation the exact same thing happens under the hood, but the cell references you're seeing change.
- jldugger 10y ago
  Maybe, but named ranges make the whole thing somewhat moot. Your formulas should be human readable, ideally.

Tuna-Fish 10y ago

http://ccm.net/faq/24592-libreoffice-calc-switch-to-excel-r1c1-formula-syntax http://ccm.net/faq/24592-libreoffice-calc-switch-to-excel-r1... I recently had to use a spreadsheet for a first time in a few years, and LO Calc seemed to be dramatically better than OOo Calc back when I last used it.

riboflava 10y ago

http://www.gnumeric.org/ http://www.gnumeric.org/ is pretty good.

ams6110 10y ago
Unless it's improved quite a bit in the last few years, no it isn't very good.
- mschaef 10y ago
  It's been a year or two since I've used it, but the last time I checked, it hasn't improved all that much. It was generally rather slow and limited. This is really a shame, because of Gnumeric's history. It was (along with Gimp) one of the very first GTK applications, and present at the beginning of the Gnome desktop suite.
TallGuyShort 10y ago
Thanks - I used Gnumeric on a netbook for a long time. It was indeed a good choice at a time when I needed something very lightweight. I do recall it being quite limited, however... I'd be pretty surprised if it had more of the features Joel Sposky was showcasing than Open/LibreOffice Calc.

catern 10y ago

It looks like LibreOffice Calc does actually support R1C1 notation. There is also the spreadsheet support in Emacs org-mode.

flukus 10y ago
+1 for org mode. There is also a table mode plugin for vim that's great (on smallish tables).

cdolan92 10y ago

To be honest I'd recommend an Office 365 subscription and use Excel in the browser, if you are unwilling to get a mac/windows installation with a desktop app. Perhaps its a 'purest' mentality, but if you're going to learn how to use a spreadsheet app, may as well learn the one that is most well known and widely used. As the video shows, Google Apps, Numbers, and the rest of them really are missing core features. Joel didn't even get into VBA scripting - thats some advanced stuff that once you realize you need it, but you're stuck in Google Apps...... well, maybe this crowd is smart enough just to make a web app to solve the issue haha! Myself? I stick to Excel.

TallGuyShort 10y ago
>> Perhaps its a 'purest' mentality, but if you're going to learn how to use a spreadsheet app It's not any more purist than sticking to FOSS :)

codemac 10y ago

The most interesting spreadsheet is http://siag.nu/siag/ http://siag.nu/siag/, but it's obviously not what you're looking for. Honestly? Excel is a premier application, that microsoft spends extreme amounts of effort making great. There isn't a FOSS spreadsheet program that really comes close. It's not that there can't be, it's that the excel line is moving faster forward than current FOSS spreadsheet projects.

saint_fiasco 10y ago

LibreOffice has R1C1 notation too. Go to Tools, Options, LibreOffice Calc, Formula and select "Excel R1C1" in the Formula syntax dropdown menu.

TallGuyShort 10y ago
Appreciated! Thought I had thoroughly checked that dialog yesterday. Not the first time I've wanted a "buy them a beer" button on HN.

bzbarsky 10y ago

Gnumeric supports R1C1 notation. It's a checkbox under the "Format" menu, "Sheet" submenu.