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If libre office/google docs fits your needs, you are artificially limiting your needs*. Probably not even realizing it. Unless what you do can be done with a c
by blahi 10y ago
If libre office/google docs fits your needs, you are artificially limiting your needs*. Probably not even realizing it.
Unless what you do can be done with a calculator (barebones basic stuff).
- sirtaj 10y agoThis argument extends easily - you're artificially limiting your needs by using Office, when you could be using ScipPy/Jupyter/IPython/Pandas.
- blahi 10y agoSpreadsheets serve different needs than the tools you mentioned.
- sirtaj 10y agoWhat needs are those? Which ones can't be served by the tools I mentioned?
- blahi 10y agoPlanning. Oftentimes all you need is to calculate some columns and play with numbers and see how the calculations change. The same things that make Excel bad for robust statistical modeling, make it good for all sorts of planning activities.
- wolfgke 10y ago> when you could be using ScipPy/Jupyter/IPython/Pandas Who says that the HN audience doesn't?
- sirtaj 10y agoI'm sure there are plenty of people here who use them. I'm responding to the person who claims libreoffice et al are artificially limited. My implicit argument is that the vast majority of people who use spreadsheet programs use them for list-keeping and simple analytics/reporting. For more complex uses, Excel is beaten by dedicated analytics tools.
- jimmaswell 10y agoWhat more features am I supposed to be using when I write essays and plot small line charts?