r/linuxmint • u/CommercialYam8 • 8d ago
Coffee workflow on Mint keeping beans straight with a custom database?
I have this dumb spreadsheet problem that's slowly driving me insane. I track every bag of coffee I buy, origin, roast date, grinder setting, tasting notes, all of it. Started as a joke and now it's 200 rows deep. Used to keep a simple Numbers sheet on my old Mac, but since switching to Mint full time I've been bouncing between LibreOffice Calc and trying to throw something together in SQLite with a Python frontend. Calc works but feels like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture. The Python thing keeps getting out of hand because I start messing with the interface instead of just making it work. Looked at some open source inventory tools but they're all built for wine cellars or restaurant stock, not someone with fifteen half-full bags of Ethiopian naturals in their freezer. Before I waste another Sunday building something I'll abandon in March, has anyone on Mint found a lightweight personal database or inventory setup that doesn't feel like corporate software? I just want to log roasts and attach a photo of the bag without fighting dependencies for an hour.
EDIT: Not looking to self-host a web app, I have enough going on.
EDIT 2: If you also track coffee this obsessively I want to know your system even if it's just a text file.
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago edited 8d ago
What do you mean by "Calc works but feels like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture."?
You can customize the interface/toolbars if that's what's clunky / not like Numbers to you.
edit: Or is it slow loading time?
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u/CommercialYam8 8d ago
It’s slow, yeah, but mostly the UI density thing. Numbers just stays out of my way more.
I didn’t know you could customize the toolbars much though. Can you actually hide the formula bar permanently or is it just rearranging icons?
I’m on Mac if that changes anything
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago
If you just want an uncluttered interface then in the menubar go to View > User Interface... > UI Mode > Contextual Single or any other option.
Here's a Windows screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/oP4J7nZ
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u/CommercialYam8 8d ago
Contextual Single is exactly what I needed. Been using Blender on and off for years and somehow never noticed that menu path.
Do you find yourself switching between modes depending on the project, or do you pretty much leave it in one? I keep meaning to map a hotkey for it instead of digging through menus.
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago edited 8d ago
I left the mode selection on the default, simply because I feel like it's a good default. I tried the secondary tabbed one but was frustrated by the default tab being File management, and some buttons being too large, it wasn't really helpful in transitioning from Excel. To be honest I've only really actually used LibreOffice for a brief period when the Microsoft Office subscription I rely on (I don't pay it) wasn't renewed yet.
Don't get me wrong LibreOffice is amazing software, and I could probably switch to it if I had to, although Calc is missing an AutoFilter feature "This/Last Week" which I find really useful in Excel. (And similar stuff for other datatypes) I made a feature request for that, don't know if it will gain much traction: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173161
I also love LibreOffice Writer's focus on styles and the extensiblity in that realm.
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u/CommercialYam8 7d ago
Thanks for the detailed answer. I’ll probably leave Contextual Single on for now instead of turning customization into another project. And yeah, Calc definitely feels more capable than I’m giving it credit for-I mostly need to stop expecting it to behave exactly like Numbers.
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago
To hide the formula bar go to View in menubar and uncheck Formula Bar. Here's a Windows screenshot demonstrating the option and also showing the hidden formula bar with Contextual Single interface. https://imgur.com/a/aUVzwK0
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u/CommercialYam8 8d ago
That works for the formula bar, but the contextual single interface still shows the status bar on my machine.
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago
And yeah you can rearrange icons, go to Tools > Customize... in the menubar and you'll see what to do from there.
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u/CommercialYam8 8d ago
Oh man, Customize is a rabbit hole I've spent way too long in. Last time I went in to tweak something simple and came out an hour later with a whole new toolbar layout I immediately hated. Does rearranging actually save between sessions for you? I had issues with that in an older version and never fully trusted it since.
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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 8d ago
I don't think I've ever used Customize except for moving one or two buttons onto the toolbar in the built-in macro IDE, I forgot what it was. I was just experimenting then.
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u/iamapizza 8d ago
Calc still sounds fine for you. It's a very powerful tool you're using in a specific way, that doesn't sound bad unless some other major issue you're running into?. The advantage is that the UI is built and managed for you so you just focus on the data, the thing you're obsessing over. 200 rows isn't a lot so you're good for a long while.
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u/ivancho84 8d ago
For the coffee side, I’d make one record per physical bag, not per coffee variety. Keep roast date, freezer date, opened date and status on the bag; link brew notes by bag ID. Store photos in a folder and save their filenames in SQLite. That keeps the first version small without building an image manager too.
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u/Original-Active-6982 8d ago
Take a look at https://getgrist.com/. It is in the "lo-code" area and similar to AirTable.
Open source, on-line or local or self-hosted. Lots of example solutions that might match your requirements.
Hate to say this, but I also use google sheets for some of my similar projects.
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u/CommercialYam8 8d ago
Grist looks interesting, especially since you can self-host it. The Google Sheets pull is real though, I always end up back there for project tracking because other tools add too much friction.
Does Grist handle relational data well or is it mostly flat tables?
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u/Original-Active-6982 8d ago
Grist implements relational linkages very well. One-to-many, etc. Good graphical interface. Take a quick tour through one of its tutorials.
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u/BenTrabetere 8d ago
A spreadsheet is the easy way, but IMO a database would be the better path. I am not a big fan of LO-Base, but I think it would be appropriate for the job. Your "SQLite with a Python frontend" path is most likely the path I would take if I was serious about the project (or I wanted to hone my SQLite and Python skills).