4 ms·

In contrast to your anecdote, I have never had issues with Google docs. It has always just worked, reasonably clean interface. I'm not sure what elaborate styli

by foxes 4y ago

In contrast to your anecdote, I have never had issues with Google docs. It has always just worked, reasonably clean interface. I'm not sure what elaborate styling you need, but it seems serviceable for when you need a basic document which I imagine is most peoples use case. Also the collaboration is actually very useful. The same reason I use overleaf as an interface for a lot of my LaTeX projects. I can quickly share and get updates, they just have to open their browser instead of download pdf > open it in their pdf viewer > make comments > send it back etc. The web interface is great for people that do not use git etc.

nerdponx 4y ago
G Docs is fine but very basic. Great for sharing and collaboration, not great for exercising precise control over the document.
- foxes 4y ago
  I don’t know what precise control you need over the document in the use case served by Google docs.
  - aikinai 4y ago
    That’s exactly the problem; Google Docs’ use case is only “share a basic document and collaborate on the words.” It’s not capable of creating precise or maintainable documents (e.g. no styles as others have mentioned), which is a very common need that it’s adjacent enough to that lots of people use it for and then it fails.
    - foxes 4y ago
      What is a style? Are you trying to create a poster or do some graphic design? Some weird xml style sheet thing? Yes it’s not for that, but then also doing that in libre office or word also sounds horrible and unmaintainable.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - kilburn 4y ago
        To define a custom style in a word processing context means to define "a group of settings that I can apply at will to parts of the text". That is, I should be able to define a "Code block" style that should appear in the same dropdown where google docs lets you select heading levels. When I select that "Code block" style, the app should format the selected bit of text according to the syte's definition. For instance: use a monospace typeface, apply some margins to this paragraph and paint a gray background on it. Likewise, I should be able to update the style definition and all code blocks should update accordingly. This is very basic functionality that has existed in word processors since... forever. Large and/or more complex documents are simply much much more painful to maintain/evolve without this feature.
        frameset 4y ago
        To add on to your well laid out points, many companies have "house styles" embedded into their templates that allow a consistent look and feel. GDocs lack of support for these makes it a non-starter.
danielvaughn 4y ago
I feel the same about GDocs. And GSheets is just insane. I have mixed feelings about Google but they knock it out of the park with their drive tools.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  gsheets is hilariously slow compared to excel, once you start getting into larger files.
  - m-p-3 4y ago
    Gsheets offers some formulas I found quite useful and would be a pain to replicate in Excel.
    - goatlover 4y ago
      Excel has lambdas now.
    - usr1106 4y ago
      Excel formulas have a horrible 1970:ish syntax. Reminds me of BASIC programming. But typically I get the job done, sometimes after several awkward intermediate steps. I wasn't aware that Google has a different one. I have never used more than simple sums and differences in Google sheets. Can you give an example where Google offers better, incompatible functionality?
      - m-p-3 4y ago
        For example, QUERY [1], SPLIT [2] and ARRAYFORMULA [3] are the ones that comes to mind. To be fair MS Excel can do arrayformulas, but I prefer GSheet's syntax. Last time I tried Excel, TRANSPOSE wasn't a thing it but it seems to be there now. [1]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343 [2]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3094136 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3094136 [3]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275
shp0ngle 4y ago
Google Docs cannot even add custom styles. And if you open word file with custom styles, it just… removes all of them.

by foxes 4y ago

nerdponx 4y ago

G Docs is fine but very basic. Great for sharing and collaboration, not great for exercising precise control over the document.

foxes 4y ago
I don’t know what precise control you need over the document in the use case served by Google docs.
- aikinai 4y ago
  That’s exactly the problem; Google Docs’ use case is only “share a basic document and collaborate on the words.” It’s not capable of creating precise or maintainable documents (e.g. no styles as others have mentioned), which is a very common need that it’s adjacent enough to that lots of people use it for and then it fails.
  - foxes 4y ago
    What is a style? Are you trying to create a poster or do some graphic design? Some weird xml style sheet thing? Yes it’s not for that, but then also doing that in libre office or word also sounds horrible and unmaintainable.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - kilburn 4y ago
      To define a custom style in a word processing context means to define "a group of settings that I can apply at will to parts of the text". That is, I should be able to define a "Code block" style that should appear in the same dropdown where google docs lets you select heading levels. When I select that "Code block" style, the app should format the selected bit of text according to the syte's definition. For instance: use a monospace typeface, apply some margins to this paragraph and paint a gray background on it. Likewise, I should be able to update the style definition and all code blocks should update accordingly. This is very basic functionality that has existed in word processors since... forever. Large and/or more complex documents are simply much much more painful to maintain/evolve without this feature.
      - frameset 4y ago
        To add on to your well laid out points, many companies have "house styles" embedded into their templates that allow a consistent look and feel. GDocs lack of support for these makes it a non-starter.

danielvaughn 4y ago

I feel the same about GDocs. And GSheets is just insane. I have mixed feelings about Google but they knock it out of the park with their drive tools.

LegitShady 4y ago
gsheets is hilariously slow compared to excel, once you start getting into larger files.
- m-p-3 4y ago
  Gsheets offers some formulas I found quite useful and would be a pain to replicate in Excel.
  - goatlover 4y ago
    Excel has lambdas now.
  - usr1106 4y ago
    Excel formulas have a horrible 1970:ish syntax. Reminds me of BASIC programming. But typically I get the job done, sometimes after several awkward intermediate steps. I wasn't aware that Google has a different one. I have never used more than simple sums and differences in Google sheets. Can you give an example where Google offers better, incompatible functionality?
    - m-p-3 4y ago
      For example, QUERY [1], SPLIT [2] and ARRAYFORMULA [3] are the ones that comes to mind. To be fair MS Excel can do arrayformulas, but I prefer GSheet's syntax. Last time I tried Excel, TRANSPOSE wasn't a thing it but it seems to be there now. [1]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343 [2]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3094136 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3094136 [3]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275 https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275

shp0ngle 4y ago

Google Docs cannot even add custom styles. And if you open word file with custom styles, it just… removes all of them.