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> LibreOffice Calc Mentioning libreoffice as competitor to Excel and Access is like you haven't understood the market, at all. Excel is a cross department bus

> LibreOffice Calc Mentioning libreoffice as competitor to Excel and Access is like you haven't understood the market, at all. Excel is a cross department business automation database, which can sync/pull/push datasets across filesystems and networks. VBA is the single most used language in Enterprise because it allows to automate pretty much any financial workflow. And more importantly: automated by non-programmers. Libreoffice is made for private users, and that's not the same users that VBA powered office documents have.

rolph 6mo ago
are you trying to say that i cant use libre, to automate, share, or collaborate datasets across a network? https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vbasupport.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vb... are you trying to say its too hard to step into libre from VBS? https://libreoffice-basic-reference.readthedocs.io/en/latest/libreoffice-basic-vs-vba/libreoffice-basic-vs-vba.html https://libreoffice-basic-reference.readthedocs.io/en/latest... you can stay with MS if you want, but really you dont have to. also i didnt mention libre as competitor, but as replacement.
- Vaslo 6mo ago
  You can do all those things. But as someone who used VBA extensively and often got hired because of my automation skills, not having VBA and other aspects of excel would be a non-starter.
  - rolph 6mo ago
    your sure? its really not that hard, and it might be useful, if MS ends up finding that final straw that breaks it for everyone, you would be better off having a head start and level ground, rather than staring up a wall for employment. i recommend you orient to it, for future proofing. scripting: https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/scripting.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/... API: https://api.libreoffice.org/docs/idl/ref/annotated.html https://api.libreoffice.org/docs/idl/ref/annotated.html BASIC: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/BASIC_Guide https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/BASIC_Guid... Working with VBA Macros https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vbasupport.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vb...
- cookiengineer 6mo ago
  It's not a question about implementability. It's a question about compatibility. As long as xlsx files have to be modified, libre office is a non replacement. No business would even dare to risk this from an operational perspective. That's my whole point, and the whole argument why Microsoft created their own "dip" with it. If you as an open source promoter within the company tell C-staff that "you found a solution that might be compatible" they gonna ask you what exactly needs what amount of time. And believe me when I tell you, even getting a sharepoint workflow to run with libreoffice is almost impossible without replacing pretty much everything underneath it. Making MS office as uninteroperable as possible is the reason companies cannot switch, because they have a legal requirement to archive and access the document for at least 10 years (in some industries up to 20 years when it comes to book keeping and accounting). So if you propose libreoffice as a solution that - isn't compatible 1:1 - isn't even guessable how long it takes - forces unpredictable infrastructure changes - ends up not rendering your documents that are _legally mandated_ Then guess what the response of your CEO will be. No amount of downvotes or "opinions" on what is better will change this. I'm a proponent of open source, but leadership of libreoffice does not seem to understand _why_ companies are using Microsoft office. And that is the core problem that has to be fixed. There needs to be a predictable and guaranteeable migration path. And as long as there isn't even a converter wizard or anything that helps you with that, libreoffice is a non starter.
  - rolph 6mo ago
    its all too hard, seems to be the source of friction.
vrganj 6mo ago
The French government decided on Grist as their replacement. It looks pretty promising: https://www.getgrist.com/ https://www.getgrist.com/

rolph 6mo ago

are you trying to say that i cant use libre, to automate, share, or collaborate datasets across a network? https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vbasupport.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vb... are you trying to say its too hard to step into libre from VBS? https://libreoffice-basic-reference.readthedocs.io/en/latest/libreoffice-basic-vs-vba/libreoffice-basic-vs-vba.html https://libreoffice-basic-reference.readthedocs.io/en/latest... you can stay with MS if you want, but really you dont have to. also i didnt mention libre as competitor, but as replacement.

Vaslo 6mo ago
You can do all those things. But as someone who used VBA extensively and often got hired because of my automation skills, not having VBA and other aspects of excel would be a non-starter.
- rolph 6mo ago
  your sure? its really not that hard, and it might be useful, if MS ends up finding that final straw that breaks it for everyone, you would be better off having a head start and level ground, rather than staring up a wall for employment. i recommend you orient to it, for future proofing. scripting: https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/scripting.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/... API: https://api.libreoffice.org/docs/idl/ref/annotated.html https://api.libreoffice.org/docs/idl/ref/annotated.html BASIC: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/BASIC_Guide https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/BASIC_Guid... Working with VBA Macros https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vbasupport.html https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/lo/text/sbasic/shared/vb...
cookiengineer 6mo ago
It's not a question about implementability. It's a question about compatibility. As long as xlsx files have to be modified, libre office is a non replacement. No business would even dare to risk this from an operational perspective. That's my whole point, and the whole argument why Microsoft created their own "dip" with it. If you as an open source promoter within the company tell C-staff that "you found a solution that might be compatible" they gonna ask you what exactly needs what amount of time. And believe me when I tell you, even getting a sharepoint workflow to run with libreoffice is almost impossible without replacing pretty much everything underneath it. Making MS office as uninteroperable as possible is the reason companies cannot switch, because they have a legal requirement to archive and access the document for at least 10 years (in some industries up to 20 years when it comes to book keeping and accounting). So if you propose libreoffice as a solution that - isn't compatible 1:1 - isn't even guessable how long it takes - forces unpredictable infrastructure changes - ends up not rendering your documents that are _legally mandated_ Then guess what the response of your CEO will be. No amount of downvotes or "opinions" on what is better will change this. I'm a proponent of open source, but leadership of libreoffice does not seem to understand _why_ companies are using Microsoft office. And that is the core problem that has to be fixed. There needs to be a predictable and guaranteeable migration path. And as long as there isn't even a converter wizard or anything that helps you with that, libreoffice is a non starter.
- rolph 6mo ago
  its all too hard, seems to be the source of friction.

vrganj 6mo ago

The French government decided on Grist as their replacement. It looks pretty promising: https://www.getgrist.com/ https://www.getgrist.com/