A big one for me is Microsoft office (desktop), Libreoffice and other FOSS alternatives just simply don’t come close, and feature wise are 20 years behind. Especially since I basically mastered MS office 2007+'s drawing features, which the FOSS alternatives don’t replicate very well.
And of course Microsoft loves to push Office 365. I don’t pay for that and just use desktop office, but Microsoft prefers you don’t know that you can do this.
And I’m going to get shit on by Lemmy big time for this but while Linux is great and has made vast improvements in recent years, I still use Windows, not only because of MS office, but because a lot of games tend to only support Windows. I know that wine and proton exist but they’re not perfect and don’t feel quite the same as running native.
I wish an operating system existed with a hybridized Linux and clone NT kernel (using code from FOSS Wine and ReactOS of course) so that the numerous back catalog of NT software can run similar to as intended while also interacting with Linux programs better and using a shared environment. Since it would probably become vulnerable to viruses for windows as well, maybe? (my programming knowledge is extremely rusty) an antivirus similar to Windows defender is bundled with the operating system. Hopefully if someone makes such an operating system it can be a Windows killer and would switch immediately
I’d like to see an open-source decentralized game store, like a competitor to Steam, GOG, etc. However, I think it should also target emulators. There’s still an unfounded stigma toward emulation even though emulators themselves are legal, and even though the big AAA game companies themselves are now using them as a lazy way to repackage and resell their old games on new platforms.
One of the biggest barriers to entry into emulation is the setup. Even with super user-friendly frontends like Emulation Station, people are still required to either go out of their way to either legally backup the games they already own, or told to “do some searches,” because of legal issues. Nevermind how this exposes new users to potential malware.
But people still make new games for these old systems. It’s entirely possible to make a store that can sell ROMs legally - one already exists, itch.io. But imagine a federated open-source game store, one where game makers can choose to legally sell their own games, and then create plugins for the emulation frontends to allow people to buy roms directly from those interfaces. It would turn emulation into a fully complete console-like experience, all while being available on more platforms than any console could ever hope to be (including those same consoles when they’re jailbroken!)
I also think it would be the final puzzle piece that legitimizes emulation.
Xodo pdf annotator
It seems all pdf annotators are allergic to letting me have
- The ability to change the text I’ve highlighted without deleting the entire highlight
- Several different highlighter colours and opacities
They seem like really silly requirements, but they make a huge difference to how long it takes me to get through my readings for class.
Adobe After Effects!! PLEASE DEAR GOD
This is the singular thing still keeping me using Adobe software. If this was replaced then I could be FREEE
The entire phone-based ecosystem.
One of the most frustrating programs for me is digiKam. On paper, it’s the perfect DAM/photo manager. But it’s kinda slow for day-to-day use. The user interface is janky in a lot of ways. It doesn’t see constant refinement either. It doesn’t even speak to me as a metadata nerd because I don’t want to turn my metadata into a janky mess. Yeah, you have a powerful metadata editor. It’s like a welding torch without any eye protection.
I’m using ACDSee on Windows, because it’s operating on pretty much the same principle (image file metadata is canonical, app database is just for indexing), but it’s faster and smoother to use. Not perfect, it has its mild limitations (like why the hell doesn’t it support OpenStreetMap - Google Maps kinda sucks for nature trails, you’d think photographers would have pointed this out), but it’s just so much more efficient. If digiKam ever gets a huge UI overhaul, switching over will probably be fairly easy though.
Also about a decade ago, I would have said that as far as novel writing software/large structured document word processors go, nothing beats Scrivener. Scrivener is still probably the best software in its niche, but it looks like a bunch of open source word processors in this niche have come a long way. Currently looking at novelWriter, which seems really rad.
MS Office isn’t better than LibreOffice and OnlyOffice, they all do the same task of making docs, spreadsheets, and presentations with very similar UI. It’s a no brainer to use the one that doesn’t bug you to use OneDrive.
Linux gaming has come a long way, especially with the introduction of things like Proton and popularisation of it by the Steam Deck. If you can play games on the Steam Deck, those games run on Linux :D
The main reasons (mind you, not only reasons) why people don’t just switch to Linux is:
- it’s different (humans naturally gravitate towards things they are familiar with)
- partly because Linux has a few things that are unintuitive to the average user (e.g. using terminal), but distros like Mint have mostly solved this issue
- Switching itself is really annoying (I would say I’m in this boat, but I’ve installed Linux on my old computers and will definitely do it again if I ever get a new computer)
I’m sorry but… 20 years behind? What new features has, say, Word even offered in the past 20 years beside that damn ribbon?
I have still quite literally found no other tool, even paid products, that can interior-crop the way IrfanView can (select row/column Y in XYZ if the entire image was XYZ, and crop out that inner part and auto-tuck X and Z directly against each other). And it’s had this feature for decades, I think.
Not exactly the same, but similar: when working with sprites for games, I often run into situations where I realize way too late that I need the size of each frame to be slightly larger than what I had been working with it. You’d think that having the ability to resize an image by adding extra padding to each individual frame would be a pretty common feature in image editing software these days, but nope. I ended up writing a small tool specifically for that just so I wouldn’t have to adjust frame by frame ever again.
ImageJ is great for stuff like that. Fiji is probably a better route for less fuss (Fiji Is Just ImageJ, plus some popular plugins)
Tax filing software
That’s amusing to me. Back around 2010, I used a lot of state legal forms that they only released as PDF files, but not fillable. It was annoying to print them and fill them by hand, and terribly fiddly to use the PDF annotation tool on the computer.
So I just used OpenOffice.org to create almost-pixel-perfect versions of the forms, with fillable text boxes, then exported them as PDF. Word couldn’t do it at the time.
Now, at work, I use Microsoft365 because that’s what everyone uses because of the site license. I wish we’d switch to something else, because Outlook fails so hard at basic email stuff.
3D CAD software. There are a few options out there (FreeCAD, LibreCAD, etc) and Blender is a thing that exists for more artistic 3D modeling. But they simply don’t hold a candle to the features and capabilities of the paid packages, which typically have costs in the 4-to-5-digit range. And I’m not talking the crazy high-end simulation options - those I understand, they’re hard - but basic modeling features.
Hell, I’d even settle for a CAD package that had some solid basic features and had a reasonable purchase cost. Unfortunately the few providers have the industry by the throat, and so your options are “free but terrible” and “you need a mortgage to use this”.
I have been using OpenSCAD to make models for 3D-printing. I know this is a specific use case, and I have no experience with the “real” CAD software, but OpenSCAD makes sense to me as a programmer.
It’s really aimed at programmers, but for someone who is used to the better known proprietary versions (so with sketching and “shaping” with a mouse,), it’s barely useable.
I grew up learning organic modeling in blender and ever since I got a 3D printer, it’s just been so easy to make things with it as opposed to learning CAD. I’m getting better thanks to OnShape and FreeCAD 1.0 but I keep finding myself going back to blender because “it just works” once you understand how to setup scaling and snapping for manipulating vertices. Basically just setup your world measurements to metric and scale it to 0.001 and then every unit will be 1mm (helps me work within the 250^3mm space of my print bed, mentally) and export as stl.
There’s even a 3D printer toolbox add on that lets you analyze and fix problems like manifold edges and additional mesh tools like manifold extrude that speed up the process for good quality parts. CAD’s biggest advantage is the non linear history editing which is super powerful but you can definitely do non-destructive editing in blender using modifiers that only get applied at export time so you even have a functional equivalent if you’re organized and plan ahead a little.
I guess what I’m saying is, blender is amazing software and absolutely capable as a workhorse for 3D printing. You’re right that the multi-digit costing proprietary software is leagues better for designing digital parts and assemblies but blender is extremely flexible and not just for the more artistic side of things, you can make extremely technical parts with blender.
I’d love to see a user-friendly, easily-implemented FOSS alternative to the entire Android system.
The options that exist now often can’t get past all the defenses that Android and phone manufacturers put into systems to secure their own data collection/revenue. I have an older Motorola phone that I literally can’t install another operating system on.
We desperately need a stable, user-friendly, and hardware-adaptive replacement for Android. I don’t want that shit on my phones any longer.
Its sort of a thing. Pine phones use open source linux. I think the main problem is development of apps to run on a linux phone isn’t popular so its pretty bare bones as a system. Havent used one myself though.
You might be interested in postmarketOS They try to mainline older Android devices. It works pretty well on the PinePhone, too.
As far as I understand, the hardware-adaptive part is difficult to implement because ARM systems do not have automatic hardware detection like x86/x64 PCs do, so the hardware list (tree) has to be known for each device, that hardware is mostly proprietary and requires proprietary drivers. All of which results in Android phones using different per-phone-model kernels.
A manufacturer phone pre-installed with LineageOS would be awesome.
Pixel + GrapheneOS is a dream.
And they’re even working on releasing phones that come with GrapheneOS preinstalled
Ooh, neat.
Who is? Google? Do know if I’d be able to trust that
The GrapheneOS team is working on finding a suitable OEM that would be able to release flagship hardware with security comparable to a Pixel, and GrapheneOS preinstalled.
A big one for me is Microsoft office (desktop), Libreoffice and other FOSS alternatives just simply don’t come close,
What, exactly, is missing? MS Office pretty much peaked, feature-wise, in like 2003 (or, arguably, 2007), and LibreOffice is ahead of that. I also find the workflow to be closer to “classic” Office and, to a slightly lesser extent, WordPerfect, which I appreciate.
You can even give LibreOffice the ribbon menu if you want (it’s in preferences somewhere). The default button icons may be rough (though recent versions have improve), but you can even customize those.
File compatibility with official office.
Corp world and gov still needs to send word docs around.
We are 95% there. But formatting gets munted between them
I do that already and have for years…?
.docand.docxwork just fine.Edit: The only issue I’ve had is one place requiring a specific font of all things. Was able to just install a free version of that, and was all set.
Yeah. I always get complaints that formatting is off
MS Office pretty much peaked, feature-wise, in like 2003 (or, arguably, 2007
For me it’s Office 2000. The flat UI is so efficient and yeah, there isn’t any features missing that I’ve encountered. Takes no resources to run and works the same if you’re on Windows 95 or 10. My family members still get me to install it if they get a new computer. It is also free to download from the Intetnet Archive.
I use LibreOffice for the most part because I’m on Linux.
I think Windows 2000 was the last Windows version I actually liked. It went downhill from there until 8 when I finally jumped ship for good. If I recall, Office 2003 was pretty close to Office 2000, just not as “flat”. I’m just more familiar with 2003 since I had it on my own PC and only used Office 2000 in the labs at school (so I could be mistaken).
I did a little reading, and yeah, the core applications remained mostly unchanged from 2000 to XP to 2003. I’m more familiar with 2000 as that’s what I had growing up and that’s probably why I like the flat UI the best.
In MS Office 2007, Gradient support on shapes was massively improved (more than 2 points on custom gradients), Blurry shadows and glows were indroduced, 3D bevels and rotation support was added, better effects on photos were introduced and you can remove backgrounds. In office 2019, you can also import and export Drawing objects to SVG
I gotta say its shocking that powerpoint is your go to for image editing like that. Like, its kind of impressive but wow that seems like a super difficult way to do it.
Gradient support on shapes was massively improved (more than 2 points on custom gradients), 3D bevels and rotation support was added
Can’t say that’s a feature I’ve ever really needed in an office suite, so am unable to confirm or deny LibreOffice can’t do it.
better effects on photos were introduced and you can remove backgrounds
That’s kind of outside the scope of a word processor / office suite. I just use GIMP and import it into the document.
In office 2019, you can also import and export Drawing objects to SVG
LibreOffice Draw (part of the suite) can create, edit, import, and export SVGs. LibreOffice writer can import and use them.
It sounds like you’re just complaining that other office suites don’t have a bunch of out-of-scope, unnecessary features bolted on. Definitely not worthy of condemning them over that.
The features aren’t “unnecessary” if you’re so used to them
Business Accounting software under FOSS is abysmal. Poor quality, poor documentation, poor functionality, limited locale support and limited local support.
CAM software under FOSS is limited to three axis at best, but most is two and a half axis.
Office functionality is covered with LibreOffice. Your assertion that it’s 20 years behind is in my experience not based in fact.
Source: I’ve been using FOSS for over a quarter of a century.
Came here to say this. I hate paying for QuickBooks while giving them access to my business finances…
I’ve been using Plain Text Accounting for the past two years and have mostly enjoyed my experience. I’ve found hledger both well documented and well supported. I don’t know the space very well, so which applications and/or packages have you tried?
Plain text accounting (and all the variants) sounds great, right until you need to use it to generate invoices, or depreciate assets, or do a monthly Business Activity Statement, or convert a currency, track repayments, etc.
All of those things require that you write software to achieve that, which means that now instead of solving problems and writing software for my clients, I’m burning hours writing software so I can run my business.
Even if I did that, I’d have no way to validate the processes, short of becoming an accountant.
GNUcash, held up as an example by anyone you ask has no documentation for importing data, has no sample company datasets, has no Business Activity Statement, continues to prefer using an XML file as a database and is unreadable on a 4k monitor.
Kmymoney is fine for home users, but specifically not for business.
Odoo, Adiempere, ERPnext and the six or so other ERP tools have poor or non existent documentation, same issues as GNUcash in relation to data and import, and have a poor track record in solving basic issues that are completely unacceptable in a business setting. For example ERPnext didn’t do currency fractions properly (ERPnext uses Centavo instead of Cent for the USD fraction: https://github.com/frappe/frappe/issues/13445, took 13 months to fix).
Last week I evaluated Apache OFbiz. It looks like a product from 1995, and trying to find anything is impossible. For shits and giggles, try setting the global date format to yyyy-mm-dd. There are three different repositories and the Docker installation instructions don’t even bother to include which one to clone in which order. It starts at: “run the docker build command”. Not to mention that it uses a database called Derby. I’ve been writing software for over 40 years and until last week I’d never heard of it. That’s not something you want in business software.
I could go on, I’ve tested dozens. This is just from memory.
Why did I test all these?
Because I’m still running a 25 year old accounting package that doesn’t run on current hardware, isn’t supported, doesn’t run under Linux and has all my data hostage.
First, thank you for the thoughtful and detailed reply. I find it helpful.
Plain text accounting (and all the variants) sounds great, right until you need to use it to generate invoices, or depreciate assets, or do a monthly Business Activity Statement, or convert a currency, track repayments, etc.
All of those things require that you write software to achieve that, which means that now instead of solving problems and writing software for my clients, I’m burning hours writing software so I can run my business
Oddly enough, I feel the opposite: I’m so glad that I have the freedom to use other tools to do what I need and that I can simply write some custom software to achieve that. I always felt locked in by QuickBooks and now I can do anything from messing around in a spreadsheet to writing what I need with jq. Plain text as an interface means that the sky is the limit for flexibility.
It has also made my company’s financial information more accesible to me. Previously, I’d given it over to bookkeepers and accountants and only seen out of date financial statements when it was time to file taxes. Now I know what’s going on whenever I want.
It has also turned bookkeeping into a programming exercise, which made me more interested, not less. I don’t have clients waiting impatiently for me to produce features for them, so I can enjoy this wro instead of having it feel like a distraction.
I’ve been writing software for over 40 years and until last week I’d never heard of it. That’s not something you want in business software.
I feel that!
Because I’m still running a 25 year old accounting package that doesn’t run on current hardware, isn’t supported, doesn’t run under Linux and has all my data hostage.
Our motivations definitely seem compatible, even if our constraints and preferences don’t.
Thanks again. Good luck.
You’re welcome.
I understand that being able to write software and be deliberate about accounting gives you a closer relationship with your financial situation.
For me the issue is that there are no guardrails around the plaintext accounting model, which means that you have the freedom to shoot yourself in the foot.
My current accounting software as rubbish as it is, stops me from making stupid mistakes, credits instead of debits for example. Plaintext accounting won’t.
So either you need to never make a mistake, or have a way to figure it out.
All that kind of safety net doesn’t exist. You can still make the books balance, but at some point you’re going to find a hole and spend weeks fixing it, or the taxman will and you’ll be paying a fine.
I exported the line items from my current software into plaintext accounting, even made it balance and match my actual accounts.
Then I needed to write an invoice and had to make my own, from scratch and manually enter the data twice, once into the invoice, another into plaintext accounting, giving me the chance to make an error twice, perhaps even a different one on either process. And that’s just one invoice.
I have considered writing my own accounting software from scratch, or forking something, but that’s not going to pay for food, so I kept looking instead.
It’s not a great place to be, either from a business perspective, or a mental one, but that’s where I’m at.
huh, i much prefer libreoffice to msoffice, i can’t even think of a reason why anyone could prefer msoffice.
Im a but gobsmacked at the notion.
what do you use the drawing for?
The only thing I can think of that Word does better, is making equations. LibreOffice works ok, but it’s more clunky. I still use it over Word because it runs much faster on my PC
memeoffice.
didn’t think msoffice would be the easiest platform to build memes/diagrams on.
I actually didn’t even know office could build something that complicated.
thanks
It might be able to do it but it’s absolutely the wrong tool for the job. That’s Adobe Illustrator territory for sure and maybe inkscape can do it (not familiar enough with it to be able to say) but vector art creation tools are what you really want for this kind of thing.
Problem with MS word is you can’t really put vector images in it externally without it being weird. I think that’s why people are used to drawing it in the software.
