7 ms·

I‘ve been using MS Access some twenty years ago to do all sorts of magic for small businesses. That was from the 90s to the early 2000s. - Later I‘d use Python

I‘ve been using MS Access some twenty years ago to do all sorts of magic for small businesses. That was from the 90s to the early 2000s. - Later I‘d use Python to do magic for companies who didn‘t know anything better than MS Excel to handle large sets of data, and when they were lost in chaos, I‘d start to streamline, process, tidy their data and help them make sense. Just two examples that showed me: Use whatever helps you to get the job done, automate and streamline processes, select tools that might give you a competitive advantage. Edit: I love Emacs, for everything text and code and some more, but there are way better tools for the task the author describes.

bitwize 6y ago
Emacs (esp. with org-mode) sits close to the barycenter of the space of problems like this, where the vector sum of "effort to use the solution to solve the problem" and "engineering effort needed to build the solution" is quite low. Building a React web app, or a Visual Basic bespoke app, might yield a nicer to use program, but would require more effort than throwing something together with Emacs Lisp, SQLite, and org-mode. It's one reason why I won't give Emacs up, again despite half of Hackernews being convinced the VSCode will solve world hunger.
- submeta 6y ago
  I love Emacs and Orgmode, especially in combination with Sqlite. And I am convinced that VS Code - despite doing so many things right - does not have the versatility and the capability of Emacs, no matter how many packages are written for it because it is not intended to be configured by it‘s end users in a way where they read the code of the packages, learn from them, change them according to their needs and automate all kinds of processes / workflows with it. Emacs is an application framework for the user with a hacker mindset. And Emacs Lisp is the underlying scripting languages that invites you to play around with your tool. Having said that: Yes, you can run your business with Emacs alone. But I am not convinced it is the right tool for the job.
  - machawinka 6y ago
    Viscose is impressive, but emacs is a lisp machine.
- sjg007 6y ago
  One problem is you have to learn emacs. Then for employees they have to learn the command line etc... so reduce friction I guess is why we have webapps.
jsilence 6y ago
Only vaguely related: what would be the Access equivalent of today? Somethings with low learning curve and forms. Any suggestions?
- submeta 6y ago
  Simple CRUD apps with Python + Flask or Django I‘d say.
  - couchpotatonews 6y ago
    Even easier would be to use a CMS, I prefer Processwire but many others also have great form builders and generic list/calendar/etc views.
- ako 6y ago
  One of the low- or no-code tools.
- dyeje 6y ago
  Airtable
- jedimastert 6y ago
  Access still exists, although I haven't used it in a long time Alternatively, you can access Google Sheets with SQL queries, although I guess it probably wouldn't be great, but Google Forms + Sheets?
- tosh 6y ago
  glide https://www.glideapps.com https://www.glideapps.com
- drran 6y ago
  GnuCobol? Text mode only.
- SEXY_DEVE_GOWDA 6y ago
  Oracle Apex is probably the best
jimmyed 6y ago
On almost all Emacs posts, I see folks go like, "<harsh criticism> PS: I love Emacs"

bitwize 6y ago

Emacs (esp. with org-mode) sits close to the barycenter of the space of problems like this, where the vector sum of "effort to use the solution to solve the problem" and "engineering effort needed to build the solution" is quite low. Building a React web app, or a Visual Basic bespoke app, might yield a nicer to use program, but would require more effort than throwing something together with Emacs Lisp, SQLite, and org-mode. It's one reason why I won't give Emacs up, again despite half of Hackernews being convinced the VSCode will solve world hunger.

submeta 6y ago
I love Emacs and Orgmode, especially in combination with Sqlite. And I am convinced that VS Code - despite doing so many things right - does not have the versatility and the capability of Emacs, no matter how many packages are written for it because it is not intended to be configured by it‘s end users in a way where they read the code of the packages, learn from them, change them according to their needs and automate all kinds of processes / workflows with it. Emacs is an application framework for the user with a hacker mindset. And Emacs Lisp is the underlying scripting languages that invites you to play around with your tool. Having said that: Yes, you can run your business with Emacs alone. But I am not convinced it is the right tool for the job.
- machawinka 6y ago
  Viscose is impressive, but emacs is a lisp machine.
sjg007 6y ago
One problem is you have to learn emacs. Then for employees they have to learn the command line etc... so reduce friction I guess is why we have webapps.

jsilence 6y ago

Only vaguely related: what would be the Access equivalent of today? Somethings with low learning curve and forms. Any suggestions?

submeta 6y ago
Simple CRUD apps with Python + Flask or Django I‘d say.
- couchpotatonews 6y ago
  Even easier would be to use a CMS, I prefer Processwire but many others also have great form builders and generic list/calendar/etc views.
ako 6y ago
One of the low- or no-code tools.
dyeje 6y ago
Airtable
jedimastert 6y ago
Access still exists, although I haven't used it in a long time Alternatively, you can access Google Sheets with SQL queries, although I guess it probably wouldn't be great, but Google Forms + Sheets?
tosh 6y ago
glide https://www.glideapps.com https://www.glideapps.com
drran 6y ago
GnuCobol? Text mode only.
SEXY_DEVE_GOWDA 6y ago
Oracle Apex is probably the best

jimmyed 6y ago

On almost all Emacs posts, I see folks go like, "<harsh criticism> PS: I love Emacs"