this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
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Today I did my first advanced spreadsheet on LibreOffice after switching to Linux, and it handled itself pretty well. I had to search for some features on the web at first, but after I got it down, I felt comfortable using it. Also, LibreOffice's default menu layout is not pretty, but I can find all of the functions with just a click, unlike MS Office's ribbon menu where I had to click around to find what I was looking for. Sorry for bad English.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I do wish it had a self hosted docker though. I could see Proton mail and thunder mail adopting it that way, which would be neat.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Is a self hosted docker different from this?

https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-libreoffice

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I am so close to loving libreoffice but trackpad gesture scrolling is broken and it's kind of not optional on a laptop. With a mouse, I am a big fan.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

This works out of the box on KDE (should work on GNOME too), what desktop environment do you use?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I've found that a lot of apps with touch gestures need Touchégg to work correctly, could be worth a shot to give it an install. I use a converted macbook, and for any gestures to work with the apple trackpad at all I have to have touchegg, my partner has it on her converted pixelbook go to make the trackpad not feel awful there too.

https://github.com/JoseExposito/touchegg

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

i'm on mint cinnamon 22 and have touchegg installed. They have this in built Gestures applet but it doesn't seem to govern the two finger scroll. Touche (separate app) seems similar - its all about 3 and 4 finger gestures. Seems like the two finger scroll is special somehow.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'm probably misunderstanding as I rarely use word processing software, so I apologise if you talking about something more than the system's own handling of touchpad scrolling! here's the settings applet for XFCE, I think every DE will have similar options (it does even offer circular scrolling, but I know you aren't looking for that):

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Right you are - two finger is part of the touchpad device, and everything above is a "gesture". This is enabled, and it works, but badly. Looks like a known issue: https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/how-to-slow-down-scrolling-speed-on-touchpad/18582

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Gesture scrolling? You mean like making clockwise or anticlockwise circles to scroll up or down? I'd have thought that kind of functionality would be handled by the touchpad driver, not individual programs.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago

nah just two finger scroll. like going down from page 1 to page 2 with a touchpad

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

Works on Ubuntu

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah, but it'd be better if calc gridlines didn't have that unchangeable fade effect

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

#775#298 060352 @ColdWater

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 weeks ago (18 children)

However, in direct comparison with SoftMaker Office (which, admittedly, is not free software), LibreOffice is inconsistent, sluggish, unstable and less compatible with Microsoft formats.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Except for MS format compatiblity, not my experience, Not sure where MS format compatibility stands now, but that has histically been the biggest issue.

Keep on mind that MS supplied LibreOffice translator is not great either so they have issues too. MS really does not plan on being compatible even between versions of their own software.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

There are still a few issues left to fix in my experience.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Huh, I've never heard of SoftMaker Office before, good to know it exists. I might check it out.

To add to some of the other comments, I have heard that the issue for LibreOffice is that Microsoft's own parser isn't compliant with the OOXML standard that they created. Yet the most important thing is compatibility with Microsoft Office, so you can't simply build a parser according to the open standard and expect it to work with Microsoft Office. Instead, you need a parser to work the same way as Microsoft's, which is proprietary. However, admittedly I have never read the OOXML standard or checked MS Office documents for compliance myself.

Therefore, if what I have heard is correct, I would assume that SoftMaker Office has either struck a deal with Microsoft before to improve compatibility, or has simply been better at reverse engineering. Alternatively, what I have heard could be wrong.

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