Well, i m using way smaller files to work with. I import xml files of roughly 4-5 MB to Excel. If i have even 2-3 other files open, i have to force close excel & re-import again. Else i would have to wait for eternity. And then when i m copying certain data to that imported xml, (Data is hardly 10k odd lines x 6 odd rows) it just crashes giving me an error message. As a workaround, i have to copy 2.5k lines of data 4 times so that i get all the data required.Btw, i dont think i m under-estimating the utility offered by the Open source alternatives. U tell me what extra does MS Office offer, apart from the sleek looks......may be a few short cut buttons extra? Or few more formulae? Few more functions? The large organisations who are migrating to Open source alternatives must have not seen what u guys are able to see?
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LibreOffice
- Thread starter Sushubh
- Start date
- Replies 386
- Views 90,144
Excel is a goldmine of features. Just because someone doesn't need all those features doesn't make it worthless. Yes, Excel or even Word for that matter is an overkill for someone who might just need create the occasional table or graph or may be the odd letter here and there. However, for folks who require more intensive data processing, Excel has no comparable or better option available for cheaper. A very simple example would be around the Pivot. Charts creation isn't direct, formulaic fields cannot be defined (there is a workaround), differential formats across fields, and if I remember when I last checked, DataPilot also had a stupid field count restriction.
That's precisely what I mentioned in my earlier post.....if an organisation needs a functionality that is not present in the open source alternative, then it can get it developed by donating to that extent. That will be much cheaper. Coz on 1 hand there is a fixed amount for 1 time development, and on the other there license fees for the number of copies u need to buy.....year after year (I mean to say for every new version launched. Pls don't tell me MS gives u Office 2010 for free just coz u own an Office 2007)
even libreoffice developers would agree that they are noway close to matching the capabilities of excel with their calc app. excel can handle gigabytes of data with ease. if the software is crashing on your computer, the problem is probably with the installation on your system. excel has supported huge ass data files for years. openoffice/libreoffice only recently expanded the number of cells that is available on a worksheet. as for contributing to the project is concerned. there are huge companies involved in the development of libreoffice. it is not like they are short of resources of anything. you cannot just spend some money and get openoffice to the levels of microsoft office because it does not really work like that. if it did, mysql would have replaced oracle years ago. it takes years of development and probably patented technologies to get work accomplished. you are just talking from your own personal experience. there are probably millions of users out there who pay for microsoft office simply because open source offerings does not work for them. for home users with very limited needs, it is a totally different scenario. they would probably never need what microsoft office has to offer them. corporate space is a totally different scene. if your clients are using microsoft excel, you would have to use the same software to maintain compatibility with everything. one mismatch of formula or a broken macro or whatever can cause extensive damage that probably could cost them a lot more than buying proprietary software.
chaibiskutbhai
I got banned!
Even MS realizes that their product has too many features that may not be needed by the home user, hence their various attempts at releasing toned down products like Office Starter, Works which are bundled with OEM versions of Windows and also Home and Student editions for retail.
Totally agree on this.
If you survey the entire community and ask them what they do on their computers, 90% (including most corporates) do this:
[*]Email
[*]Internet browsing
[*]Listen to/watch Music/movies
[*]Photos - store/minor edit
[*]Documents/ letters
[*]Spread sheet to feed data
[*]Simple presentations/slides
[*]Slides/Presentations
[/list]
Given this type of a usage, what's wrong if most such basic users, go open source and save on costs?
Just imagine the software on a typical Windows PC:
Windows OS - Xp or 7 : Costs 10000. W7HB costs 6K.
MS Office 2010 : Costs 4000 for Student, 9000 for Home & Biz, 25K for Professional.
A few illegal add-ons like Norton, Mc Afee or whatever antivirus costing about 1-2k
Nero or equivalent : Another 2k
So, a basic PC software suite costs one atleast 15k, if not more. Most of these are procured illegally for home computers, but the corporates do have to pay for these.
All a manager of a corporate needs is an email client, a browser and a basic office program to type letters, make simple presentations and keep cut-pasting data into spreadsheets?
15K per system saved is a HUGE difference to most corporates.
I use a Linux OS on my computer and I do much more than what I've mentioned above.
Coming back to Libreoffice, I agree that the user-interface as well as some functionalities may not even be a match to MSO's, but the difference in features is not justified by the difference in price.
Totally agree on this.
If you survey the entire community and ask them what they do on their computers, 90% (including most corporates) do this:
[*]Internet browsing
[*]Listen to/watch Music/movies
[*]Photos - store/minor edit
[*]Documents/ letters
[*]Spread sheet to feed data
[*]Simple presentations/slides
[*]Slides/Presentations
[/list]
Given this type of a usage, what's wrong if most such basic users, go open source and save on costs?
Just imagine the software on a typical Windows PC:
Windows OS - Xp or 7 : Costs 10000. W7HB costs 6K.
MS Office 2010 : Costs 4000 for Student, 9000 for Home & Biz, 25K for Professional.
A few illegal add-ons like Norton, Mc Afee or whatever antivirus costing about 1-2k
Nero or equivalent : Another 2k
So, a basic PC software suite costs one atleast 15k, if not more. Most of these are procured illegally for home computers, but the corporates do have to pay for these.
All a manager of a corporate needs is an email client, a browser and a basic office program to type letters, make simple presentations and keep cut-pasting data into spreadsheets?
15K per system saved is a HUGE difference to most corporates.
I use a Linux OS on my computer and I do much more than what I've mentioned above.
Coming back to Libreoffice, I agree that the user-interface as well as some functionalities may not even be a match to MSO's, but the difference in features is not justified by the difference in price.
i am sure student, home and small business edition apps are not crippled in any way. i believe microsoft sell word excel powerpoint etc as separate apps in the market. not sure about their availability here in india. they should promote individual apps a bit more. a lot of people just need word. some others need excel. few others would need powerpoint. home and small office is probably the best package for home users. i think outlook is missing from this package.
Actually I would say crippled is a wrong word, we are better off saying that professional etc editions have "advanced" features, not generally used by common public.
advanced features? or more apps? features and apps are totally different things.
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And that is one weird ass thing. I mean the price difference with and without Outlook is ridiculous.
i suppose microsoft outlook is one of the strongest apps in the package. outlook just recently became part of the office for mac package. and apparently it made a lot of people happy.
advanced features? or more apps? features and apps are totally different things.
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And that is one weird ass thing. I mean the price difference with and without Outlook is ridiculous.
i suppose microsoft outlook is one of the strongest apps in the package. outlook just recently became part of the office for mac package. and apparently it made a lot of people happy.
