3 ms·
This is replacing an old M1 Air, with an old T480 and upgrading bits. As a cost efficient way of getting a good computer this is a reasonably good reminder tha
by buro9 4y ago
This is replacing an old M1 Air, with an old T480 and upgrading bits.
As a cost efficient way of getting a good computer this is a reasonably good reminder that other options exist and old ThinkPads were produced in unreasonable numbers and can be obtained easily on eBay (businesses selling off their old stock).
For me, I've a work 3y refresh cycle coming up and a dilemma - an M2 Mac vs a ThinkPad X1. I just don't like MacOSX at all, and I do love Linux, and once in a blue moon because I'm a Director I need to delve into large Excel sheets that even an M2 struggles over but Excel on Windows does great at. I find myself seriously considering Windows 11 Pro on an X1 with WSLv2 for my Linux daily driver (it's not like I'm doing eBPF work and need a specific kernel capability). And this dilemma feels, weird. Because all I see is everyone with Macs. Still, the ThinkPad is likely to win - I have another 6 weeks to decide.
- prmoustache 4y agoWhen you spreadsheet app struggle, tou know it is time to convert to a database. You'll work much faster with an sqlite database anyway. Even converting csv + perl/ruby/python is more convenient than that piece of shit of excel anyway. By the way libreoffice calc seem to handle better large spreadsheet files.
- buro9 4y agoSpreadsheets are owned by Finance and Accounting - I'm in Eng and wouldn't be able to get them to let go of Windows + Excel.
- prmoustache 4y agoYou can still convert back your data to csv or xlsx once you finished your work on it. Most db clients actually support that.
- realworldperson 4y ago[dead]
- KyeRussell 4y agoWhy is it such a point of developer provide to pretend that Excel doesn’t provide any value? Are we still not past this blind spot? I write Python every day and there’s still plenty I’d rather do in Excel, even on macOS where it’s absolute hot garbage.
- prmoustache 4y agoI am not a dev. There are tons of non developers who actually learn to use python or R to manipulate large dataset. Why couldn't a accountant or manager do that as well? Excel is not especially easier to learn than sqlite if you start doing funky things with multiple sheets/documents relations and all. It is actually programming without giving it the name.
- sleepychu 4y agoDepends if these are really spreadsheets or specialist "applications" made of excel formulas by "non-technical" users. If you are really looking at large file based table data and are similarly unable to persuade the author to produce a sensible format, I've had a good time with VisiData