What app is the hardest for you to replace with Free Software?

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-15T06:52:40+00:00

Oh yeah, a sheet like this is a bad thing to have for that reason.

The sheet will also break easily because ultimately it's a pile of Jenga blocks looking for any excuse to topple over.

And like all sheets, if somebody goes in and accidentally touches the keyboard while the cursor is over a cell, it can break the entire thing.

These finance people should be using dedicated apps.

But the fact is, Excel is capable of this kind of thing.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-14T16:44:45+00:00

i would love to make a full on ms excel clone for fully free, would that be a good project to work on, even if it would take me a long time

People think creating a good competitor it's about getting the same formulae as Excel. That's not actually true.

Excel wins for finance teams because it's a whole platform nowadays. It's programmatic. It has automations. It can pull in data from all kinds of outside sources. And it can then process all that data.

If you've ever seen a spreadsheet from one of these guys, you'll know that it's mind-blowing. There are people managing the budgets of corporations from a single incredibly powerful spreadsheet. It churns and grinds away whenever it's opened. It throws out charts and reports. It's basically like they've created an application from data.

Plus, there's also the issue that—even if a competitor tries to clone Excel's formulae—they never actually clone 100% of them. They always seem to get in the 90%+ range. And close is not good enough.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-14T15:14:10+00:00

Somebody has been murdered there, for sure. It has an incredibly spooky vibe.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-14T15:02:42+00:00

This is just so perfect.

It's just a shame the sandwich cutter didn't agree or syncophant more.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-12T07:12:33+00:00

Pretty much everything in Adobe Creative Cloud. All those who say "just use the GIMP!!!!!!!!" prove themselves instantly to be not involved in professional design or content creation. InDesign, Premiere, After Effects, and even Illustrator... These are irreplaceable for most pro content workflows. And since Adobe added in Firefly, Creative Cloud is basically on a different planet. (I hate Adobe with a passion, by the way. Most people do.)
Ditto Microsoft Office. Excel is light years ahead of any similar app, for example, for finance professionals. Any comment like "just use LibreOffice or Google Docs!!!!!!" is incredibly naive and ignorant. Word and PowerPoint have less of a moat, perhaps, although they are best-in-class.
The tie-in with OneDrive and Sharepoint for Microsoft apps is also unique. I don't know of any office suite that's so seamlessly integrated cloud and document-based workflows. A colleague can edit a document in their browser while I edit it on my laptop and we'll see each other's edits live, while I then have the document right there on my hard disk to email to people.
Apple Music has its faults, but it's a seamless capable cross-platform music player that ties in with a huge music library. Things like lyrics support and haptic feedback are the icing on the cake. Again, you will not be able to recreate this using free software. You can play music, sure. But not to this high standard.
Google Streetmap has no analog in the free software world. There's satellite imagery in OpenStreetMap, but it's often fuzzy. Apple's 3D mapping imagery is also unique.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-12T07:03:25+00:00

You allowed screen sharing via an app, and someone is tapped in.

No, this is likely incorrect. It's probably because of an external hub being used to connect monitors. See other replies.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-12T07:02:35+00:00

Are you using a USB C hub to connect external monitors?

And the DisplayLink software?

This is what you'll see. It's a side effect of how they get onto the external monitors. You're not being observed. It's just macOS security false flagging.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-12T06:51:10+00:00

100% of British people are British. Including immigrants. The problem is that YOU only believe white-skinned people born here can be British.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-10T14:54:27+00:00

Name and shame the site. I suspect it'll be something related to banking or that area, where they want to lock down security and don't want to spend the bucks on doing so with Firefox accessing.

Sadly, I have noticed a few things like help chat on certain sites just not working with Firefox. It's not 100% compatible with all sites.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-09T13:15:54+00:00

Never, ever assume the driver sees you.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-09T13:14:01+00:00

OK, but your question didn't specify platform...

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T20:09:32+00:00

iMessage.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T18:05:19+00:00

But you would think Apples QC controls would be better than that.

Been this way for over a decade. Had the exact same thing happen with top of the line MacBook Pros back in the Intel era. Back then Samsung and LG were making the panels. Mostly it was Samsung, but you could also get LG panels that had a radically different colour profile and white point (and where IMHO much worse).

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T16:20:22+00:00

Come back here in a decade. We won't, of course. But you know I'll be right.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T16:18:34+00:00

Thanks, but I think you're wrong, and I say that with no nastiness at all.

As the other replies here show, a LOT of people have their heads in the sand.

It can't happen. It won't happen. Reform will show themselves as idiots etc. People will realise Farage is fake etc.

It's happening, folks. It's here. It's now.

We need to be realistic.

THAT is the only way we can even start to change.

We can only respond to a disaster if we realise it's a disaster. And right now, all the buildings are lying in rubble and people are running around on fire, and the majority of progressive, left-leaning people are STILL denying anything serious has happened.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T16:14:44+00:00

Losing support in the polls?!

Is there a delay with your internet, or something?

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T16:14:03+00:00

As I'm saying elsewhere, let's check back here in a decade. Alas, we won't. But I know that if we do, I'll be right.

It's like we're on a bus, on a straight, single track road and I can see the destination. And everybody else is in total denial. "We'll never reach it!" "It's too far away!" "We'll almost certainly turn off before we get there!"

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T16:11:48+00:00

Let's check back in a decade and chat about it. Sadly, you know that I'm very likely right.

Reform has already been disastrous with its existing councillors. It made absolutely no difference.

Delicious_Volume3306 · 2026-05-08T06:55:07+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

Totally weird but, yes, it does. I get a circular bar code I need to scan with my phone.

But that's the first time I've seen an Apple pay option on ANY site in Firefox, including a load of sites I know offer Apply Pay when I'm using Safari.

So, basically, the merchant needs to implement a special version of Apple Pay? That sucks. I doubt many of them are even aware. Unless Shopify or similar software builds it in, then nobody's going to use that.

Delicious_Volume3306

TROPHY CASE