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Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#11

Post by derbOac »

Your comments are pretty subjective and you make a lot of assumptions.

I can't say it's the most elegant software I've used but I don't have these problems you're referring to. Microsoft Office has a certain amount of polish but has its own bugs, and I always felt that the UX was implemented in a kind of inconsistent way. I can't say I have a preference for one suite versus another.

I agree with you that I wish there were additional office suites, but that's only because I wish there was more competition in the space in general. I'm not sure any (either?) of the major offerings I really love.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#12

Post by TheRealGL »

koenvdb wrote: post #8
TheRealGL wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post is shitting on the project. You have no idea the amount of effort, dedication or self-motivation required to produce software, therefore the discussion can never go past your personal beef with what it cannot do, versus what you feel it should be able to do. You're bringing nothing to the table that is new or innovative to the discussion of quality in open source software, only a bash on a project that you…

Dude calm down, he literally states that he isn't a developer and is asking _why_ it is 'still so bad'. You could explain to him why it is really hard to properly implement things in a piece of software as vast as LibreOffice. Attacking him for even asking the question isn't the way to go imo.

I'm not attacking him, merely setting some of his assumptions straight.

He's assumed that the _person_ or _people_ involved with implementing any of the hundreds of features in this software set out to deliberately do it wrong or to a poor standard.

He's assumed that writing software at any level is easy and happens without compromises. Spoiler: there are always compromises, and most of the time, they're between a rock and a hard place.

Rather than put effort into fixing or attempting to correct, even on an advisory level (filing a bug report perhaps?), he's bashing the software- but its _my_ responsibility to educate him that there's another way?

He's not bringing anything to the table that's new. He's not pushing the discussion forward on how we can make software better.

I wonder how the narrative changes if he posted that he fixed just one tiny bug, or improved the app's navigation- and was able to remark that it was painful and provided a kernel of an idea for how we can improve it? Or that it was easy and he's now working all of his spare time to improving the project further?

Maybe he should start writing the 'new open-source office suite' and let us know how we could have done x, y, z features differently with his new found vast experience in writing software. Or maybe spend a million dollars and see how much software development that buys- 5, 10, 20 developers for a single year, what would this new office suite be like?

You don't get to bash for free, without someone bashing you back.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#13

Post by lovelearning »

I have used LO Writer every day for small and large documents from 6-7 years now - ever since Linux became my main OS - and I can't say it's felt buggy or jittery. The UI perhaps may be perceived as ugly by some compared to MS Office's UI. LO has some alternate UIs like ribbon bars but I didn't find them particularly compelling to switch.

LO Writer as a word processor feels good enough to me. LO Writer as an editor for Word docx files feels unpolished, but I don't work with docx anyway. I think this applies to all the LO software when working with corresponding Office files.

Just like me, perhaps the developers of LO feel it's good enough? Perhaps their default OS and environment provide a smooth experience? Perhaps they don't work with Office files much?

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#15

Post by jhbadger »

Personally, at least with relation to the UI, I find it far easier to use than current versions of Microsoft Office which have created a bizarre "ribbon" interface rather than use standard pull down menus. The LibreOffice UI may be "old", but that's a good thing rather than simply copy Microsoft's missteps.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#16

Post by JohnFen »

lovelearning wrote: post #13

I have used LO Writer every day for small and large documents from 6-7 years now - ever since Linux became my main OS - and I can't say it's felt buggy or jittery. The UI perhaps may be perceived as ugly by some compared to MS Office's UI. LO has some alternate UIs like ribbon bars but I didn't find them particularly compelling to switch. LO Writer as a word processor feels good enough to me. LO Writer as an editor f…

I, too, use LibreOffice heavily, and I was a little confused by the OP. It works great for me. I genuinely prefer it over MS Office and the like.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#17

Post by helij »

I use it for some light personal finance calculations. My CV was written using Libre. I find that LibreOffice is good enough for my needs. People with different requirements might experience bugs but that's not so in my case.

I don't consider LibreOffice to be bad. Quite the opposite.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#18

Post by schwartzworld »

beardyw wrote: post #10

First up, to get a product like LibreOffice for nothing is amazing. The real issue I suspect is - who needs to create "documents" any more? I use Calc without any issues to do spreadsheet stuff, but have never needed to share one with anyone else. Writer, not for years. People often work on things they want to use, so getting commitment might be getting more difficult. My question is, assuming you are not a business,…

> who needs to create "documents" any more?

Um, lots of people? MS-Office is still heavily used.

The bigger issue is who needs to create "documents" AND prefers open source software BUT not command line utilities.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#19

Post by nateb2022 »

beardyw wrote: post #10

First up, to get a product like LibreOffice for nothing is amazing. The real issue I suspect is - who needs to create "documents" any more? I use Calc without any issues to do spreadsheet stuff, but have never needed to share one with anyone else. Writer, not for years. People often work on things they want to use, so getting commitment might be getting more difficult. My question is, assuming you are not a business,…

> My question is, assuming you are not a business, what do you use LibreOffice for?

As a student, I write school papers regularly. I also use LibreOffice to write my Resume/CV when I apply for a job.

Re: Why is LibreOffice still so bad?

#20

Post by nateb2022 »

jhbadger wrote: post #15

Personally, at least with relation to the UI, I find it far easier to use than current versions of Microsoft Office which have created a bizarre "ribbon" interface rather than use standard pull down menus. The LibreOffice UI may be "old", but that's a good thing rather than simply copy Microsoft's missteps.

And don't forget, LibreOffice has a tabbed view option that makes it look like MS Office. [0]

[0]: https://www.howtogeek.com/788591/how-to-make-libreoffice-loo...

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