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Austria's military just ditched Microsoft for open-source LibreOffice

(www.zdnet.com)
96 points CharlesW | 1 comments | 27 Sep 25 23:57 UTC | HN request time: 0.197s | source
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billy99k ◴[28 Sep 25 00:55 UTC] No.45400808[source]▶
It's not because it's better. If you just need a basic excel/doc alternative, maybe.

As soon as you need some more complex excel calculations, LibreOffice falls flat.

Good luck getting formatting to look correct in a .doc file opened by Microsoft Office 99% of the time.

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1. jacquesm ◴[28 Sep 25 10:07 UTC] No.45403171[source]▶
The solution is just not to use Excel and Office at all. I've been free of Microsoft's crap for multiple decades now and I interface with companies that are my customers so technically they get to dictate terms. The military is in the opposite position: they get to dictate terms to their suppliers. So they arguably have an easier time of it.

As for 'more complex calculations': yes, Excel can do some nifty tricks. So what, in the end, calculations get done, in a spreadsheet or in some other way, the military is mostly logistics, there isn't a problem there that can't be solved with regular tools. The .doc file format should simply be abandoned completely.

So indeed, it is not because it is better. It is just a little different, which is a small price to pay for the inconvenience of not enabling a country that has with some regularity threatened EU countries and other allies. Or did you think that companies like Microsoft are immune to the fall-out of such antics?