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I only use Google Sheets

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Re: I only use Google Sheets

#51

Post by Qem »

PanoptesYC wrote: post #15
salviati wrote: post #3

Reminds me of "Ask HN: Is the world run by badly updated Excel sheets?" [0] You need experience to see the shorcomings of spreadsheets. No version control. No tests. In general it's good for things that don't need to evolve, but stay the same (most likely because they're short lived). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33611431 [EDIT] An example of a comment from that thread pointing in this direction: > In gen…

I've mostly seen the problem manifest when information is spread across a multitude of spreadsheets all stored in different places. The people involved don't know which spreadsheets contain what information and which are supposed to. Sometimes they end up having conflicting data purely because they don't realise that someone else thinks the primary source is spreadsheet A while they're only making changes to spreadsh…

> Any flaws with Excel haven't been due to the actual program or data, but just how the files are managed within projects.

Not sure of that. Examples:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01679...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-2105-5-80

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#52

Post by edoceo »

Aachen wrote: post #31
TrackerFF wrote: post #22

One thing I've learned: Never ( ever ) make yourself reliant/dependent on Google products. If you do get banned / locked out, it is the most AI-Kafkaesque process imaginable to regain access. And you could stay locked out for years. I use Google sheets myself from time to time, but I regularly do backups of the sheets I'm working on, or anything important I have access to. I've been in the hole before, for reasons I…

I keep telling people to make backups of "cloud" services ever since Grooveshark died from one day to the next Maybe Spotify won't be taken down overnight, but they can lock me out for various reasons such as misdetecting an IP address (Google wouldn't let me log in at all when they thought I was in Russia, when I was at 31C3 in Hamburg, Germany, a conference where they afaik use some temporary IP space — I don't kno…

Any good tools for automatic backup of these things? How would a non-tech-type do it?

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#53

Post by flatcakes »

edoceo wrote: post #52
Aachen wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep telling people to make backups of "cloud" services ever since Grooveshark died from one day to the next Maybe Spotify won't be taken down overnight, but they can lock me out for various reasons such as misdetecting an IP address (Google wouldn't let me log in at all when they thought I was in Russia, when I was at 31C3 in Hamburg, Germany, a conference where they afaik use some temporary IP space — I don't kno…

Any good tools for automatic backup of these things? How would a non-tech-type do it?

This probably doesn't qualify as a non-tech type answer, but I have a Synology NAS which includes a feature (CloudSync?) to automatically download Google Drive documents in docx, xlsx, etc. format.

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#54

Post by tcfhgj »

coffeefirst wrote: post #39
sjw987 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell whether I'm being super paranoid but I've been burned by Google so many times on product sunsets that I've just removed all of my data from them. I managed to set up private self-hosted versions of an email client, photo viewing app, and barebones alternative to Docs and Sheets. Switched from Google to Kagi, and Chrome to Brave, but generally keep my own bookmarks of sites to use rather than using search…

What’s your Docs and Sheets alternative? I’ve looked, I’ve never found anything that seems to both cover all the bases and not feel like a bad Microsoft clone.

I just use any scripting language, mostly Typst, because then I have the analysis directly in the document

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#55

Post by portaouflop »

Aachen wrote: post #31
TrackerFF wrote: post #22

One thing I've learned: Never ( ever ) make yourself reliant/dependent on Google products. If you do get banned / locked out, it is the most AI-Kafkaesque process imaginable to regain access. And you could stay locked out for years. I use Google sheets myself from time to time, but I regularly do backups of the sheets I'm working on, or anything important I have access to. I've been in the hole before, for reasons I…

I keep telling people to make backups of "cloud" services ever since Grooveshark died from one day to the next Maybe Spotify won't be taken down overnight, but they can lock me out for various reasons such as misdetecting an IP address (Google wouldn't let me log in at all when they thought I was in Russia, when I was at 31C3 in Hamburg, Germany, a conference where they afaik use some temporary IP space — I don't kno…

If you give a shit about music you should not use Spotify at all, but that is probably a different discussion

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#56

Post by tcfhgj »

trollbridge wrote: post #46
coffeefirst wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s your Docs and Sheets alternative? I’ve looked, I’ve never found anything that seems to both cover all the bases and not feel like a bad Microsoft clone.

Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel?

same problem?

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#57

Post by failingforward »

salviati wrote: post #4
glimshe wrote: post #2

And it all started with Visicalc. The spreadsheet and the word processor are the most important computer programs ever created. No wonder Google and Microsoft still make billions from these two.

I would argue that the compiler is the most important computer program. Or maybe that it doesn't make that much sense to look for a most important program.

s/programs/applications/

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#58

Post by crazygringo »

TrackerFF wrote: post #22

One thing I've learned: Never ( ever ) make yourself reliant/dependent on Google products. If you do get banned / locked out, it is the most AI-Kafkaesque process imaginable to regain access. And you could stay locked out for years. I use Google sheets myself from time to time, but I regularly do backups of the sheets I'm working on, or anything important I have access to. I've been in the hole before, for reasons I…

I assume you're talking about the free consumer tier?

Nothing like that should happen if you're paying for even an individual Workspace plan. You get a phone number for customer support, and it works.

Google shuts down free accounts when it believes they're being used for fraud/spam. And because scammers and spammers create them at virtually zero cost, and will fake activity to build account credibility until using them for nefarious purposes, that does mean legitimate free accounts occasionally get caught.

Regular backups are important no matter what though. Obviously Takeout exists, but there are lots of third-party automated backup solutions as well that will automatically convert Sheets files to .xlsx as part of the backup process. I use one that backs up nightly to my NAS.

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#59

Post by corry »

Always overlooked point in these pro/anti-spreadsheet discussions:

A spreadsheet gives you a DB, a quickly and easily customized UI, and iterative / easy-to-debug data processing all in a package that everyone in the working world already understands. AND with a freedom that allows the creator to do it however they want. AND it's fairly portable.

You can build incredible things in spreadsheets. I remain convinced that it's the most creative and powerful piece of software we have available, especially so for people who can't code.

With that power and freedom comes downsides, sure; and we can debate the merits of it being online, or whether this or that vendor is preferable; but my deep appreciation for spreadsheets remains undiminished by these mere trifles.

It's the best authoring tool we've ever devised.

EDIT TO ADD: the only other thing that seems to 'rhyme' with spreadsheets in the same way is: HyperCard. Flexible workbench that let you stitch together applications, data, UX, etc. RIP HyperCard, may you be never forgotten.

Re: I only use Google Sheets

#60

Post by CGMthrowaway »

TrackerFF wrote: post #22

One thing I've learned: Never ( ever ) make yourself reliant/dependent on Google products. If you do get banned / locked out, it is the most AI-Kafkaesque process imaginable to regain access. And you could stay locked out for years. I use Google sheets myself from time to time, but I regularly do backups of the sheets I'm working on, or anything important I have access to. I've been in the hole before, for reasons I…

You're right about google's track record but at heart yours is a comment about third-party cloud dependency, not google. As you mention, offline storage solves this and another commenter mentioned msft will ban you also (but you dont hear about it because...offline storage)
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