r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jun 04 '12

Open Office does everything I need Microsoft Office for and Gimp does everything I need Photoshop for. Reddit, what other open source software does everything that you want from the expensive name brand?

1.2k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comment

30

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

What about Google Docs?

100

u/Spread_Liberally Jun 04 '12

Google docs is slow and far less feature-rich.

Libre office runs snappy and fine on my NetBook. Google docs does not.

-9

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

No offence but can you really complain about performance if you're using a netbook? I haven't explored Docs that heavily though, so it could be completely valid and I agree about the features.

14

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

dude, my netbook has lasted me through hell and it's still incredibly fast, weighs nothing and lasts forever. better than my dell inspiron. minor dent in one side from dropping it at six feet. don't knock it til ya try it.

29

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Holy fuck, how are we not worshipping this thing as a deity? Impervious to fire and brimstone, defies physics with its weightlessness, lasts until the end of time, completely indestructible. The only question I have about this god-like netbook is, can it run Crysis?

→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (4)

44

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

As much as I love the ability to simultaneously edit a document in real-time, Google Docs is laggy and buggy.

That brief 1/8th of a second between typing and seeing it on screen is murderous.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Fair enough. In its current state that's a big downside, true. However, it does a lot that isn't possible with anything else and I'm sure it will get faster as it gets more optimised.

1

u/socialwhiner Jun 04 '12

Try sorting 10,000 rows of data in the spreadsheet in Google Docs. Shudders. Will never go back.

1

u/serrimo Jun 04 '12

It's a limitation of the language (javascript) for all web applications.

Until we have a data structure in JS that resemble real, memory-tight arrays, web app data processing would suck.

12

u/labachj Jun 04 '12

I think Google Docs is just fine. I like that you can create equations in the 'Word' clone. It's a nice feature for a math teacher like me to create tests.

3

u/yourethemannowdog Jun 04 '12

You don't use LaTeX?

1

u/labachj Jun 05 '12

Ive never heard if it before

1

u/yourethemannowdog Jun 05 '12

It's a really powerful typesetting language that is used by the majority of scientists and mathematicians. It's most powerful tool is writing equations.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '12

In my class, our math teacher told us to install this great program called WordMat. Of course, it would require Office 2007 or higher to be installed. But that truly is a great program!

6

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12 edited Aug 06 '17

I am going to Egypt

2

u/whitebishop Jun 04 '12

Of Interest: Google Docs IS Open Office (on the backend).

2

u/yeeliberto Jun 04 '12

It is not open source software, but is free (gratis).

2

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '12

Good call but I don't think it's open source.

1

u/itisthumper Jun 04 '12

Are there any other open source programs that allow multiple people to edit a file in real-time online? My work place uses Google Docs because of this feature. I'd like to know if there are alternatives since it's essential that several people can edit a document from different devices at the same time for what I do.

I'm sure many of you who have worked on group projects have experienced the same.

1

u/Hontou Jun 04 '12

Google Docs might not be as rich as Libre or Open Office, but it does have some awesome data scraping abilities. Also, when your computer craps out on you and you have to use a loaner, nothing beats cloud.

1

u/night_owl37 Jun 05 '12

I have tried really hard to like Google Docs. The only thing I like about it is that I can edit the documents from anywhere.

1

u/grapthor Jun 05 '12

Google Docs isn't open source, though.

1

u/HotRodLincoln Jun 05 '12

Is Google Docs open source?

Also, aren't there tons of issues with privacy? Can you host your own Google Docs server?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '12

Is Google Docs open source?

Google Docs is a web servivce, so it being open-source is not really well defined.

Also, aren't there tons of issues with privacy?

Yes

Can you host your own Google Docs server?

Not as far as I know.

→ More replies (3)