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KDE is working on an M$ Word alternative? (flathub.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by SeekPie@lemm.ee to c/kde@lemmy.kde.social
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Just found this while scrolling flathub.

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[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 76 points 2 weeks ago

As a KDE fan, I don't use any of these "redundant" programs, unless there is a true benefit.

The thing is that, LibreOffice works and looks great in Plasma, and Calligra doesn't do anything special.

It's even more obvious for me with KTorrent. We already have qBitTorrent!

I absolutely like things like Neochat, tho, because in this case the "official" alternative is an annoying Electron app.

[-] SeekPie@lemm.ee 35 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah but I don't think competition is bad.

Maybe they'll make it even better than the alternatives.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 2 weeks ago

Of course, I don't think there is anything inherently wrong about Calligra. It's just that, so far... I see no point for using it.

[-] RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

For me the question becomes whether or not it is a waste of resources.

There's only so many donations to go around.

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[-] otter@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago

There is also OnlyOffice, which has been more palatable for the people I shared it with (mostly students that were graduating and losing access to free MS Word)

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago

I've found OnlyOffice to have bettet interoperability with MS Office, than LibreOffice. Not perfect, but things like layout are better transferred between the programs. If that is a main concern (i.e. you frequently collaborate with people using MS Office), that would be a good solution. There is however some sketchy licensing stuff going on with OnlyOffice I have yet not fully understood.

It seems Calligra can open, but not save in MS Office file formats. I guess MS Office can open OpenDocument-files, but I believe interoperability will not be too good. Again, if that is a main concern. For me now, it is not.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 2 weeks ago

You can make LibreOffice look more like Microsoft Office, it's in the settings. No need for OnlyOffice for that.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago
[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

What's the guide on how to split the executables up into separate processes, so when a spreadsheet window crashes, all other windows don't go down as well?

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 weeks ago

Since you are able to classify it as "redundant", I would assume you have experience using it? Could you comment on some of the main gaps you find between this and LibreOffice, that leads you to prefer LibreOffice? As stated in a comment below, I have no experience with this and would be interested to see if it could be a contender, and it seems you have an opinion that it (at least at present), does not.

If you mean "redundant" as in "LibreOffice already does everything you need", I disagree with that.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 weeks ago

I gave it an extended look a few years ago, and I don't remember much of the details, but I found the workflow not terribly intuitive, it had some unusual defaults and was relatively limited in features.

If I remember correctly, it did save in the ODF formats, so for just writing out a letter, it's definitely fine.
There's just not really a reason to use it over LibreOffice, except for it being somewhat more lightweight.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 weeks ago

I mean "redundant" as in "Calligra does not offer me anything special compared to LibreOffice"; and so I prefer to keep using LibreOffice as it is essentially the source of all things OpenDocument.

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for good input! I'll give it a spin later, but I will contain my expectations for now. Seems like Krita was spun out of this some time ago, and my impression is that Krita is generally very well liked. Maybe the remaining parts will recieve similar development focus later and they will become true contenders down the line. I like competition, and as said before, I don't think LibreOffice is quite there.

[-] superkret@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

It doesn't handle .docx files.
And it has a useless sidebar you can't remove.
And it doesn't have the libreoffice ecosystem, with lots of extensions and plugins.

[-] ttrasuns@toot.lv 1 points 2 weeks ago

@superkret @cyberwolfie world would be a better place if many many more office suites, especially MS Office, wouldn't support OOXML... The only reason for its existance is MS monopoly and lies.

[-] superkret@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, unfortunately we live in the world we live in.

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Man, you must have better luck than me because Libreoffice is utter dogshit at sending a print job correctly IME. Several different machines and printers and I can't get a proper print out of LO.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 weeks ago

Never had trouble with that. A quick look online seems to tell that it's an issue even for Microsoft Word.

Have you tried exporting to PDF first?

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

My solution has been saving in Nextcloud and using the Collabra Suite that I have set up there. It's not much for editing, but it never seems to fail to print as it says it will.

[-] superkret@feddit.org 33 points 2 weeks ago

Calligra can't deal with .docx files at all, and that's enough to disqualify it, really.

I mean, you can save in .docx but you have to manually type in the file ending cause there isn't an option for it.
And it can technically open .docx files, but don't be surprised when it suddenly adds 6 pages to a document that contains nothing but the word "test".
(I couldn't find out if that was caused by the saving or the opening, but it doesn't really matter.)

[-] sohrab@persadon.com 23 points 2 weeks ago

@SeekPie
kde had this for years.
at first it was koffice then they renamed it

[-] SeekPie@lemm.ee 6 points 2 weeks ago

Didn't know this, thanks for the info!

[-] D_Air1@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

This is what I was thinking. This isn't new and it isn't in the best of maintained state. There have been some recent contributions, but not enough to claim that KDE as a whole is doing some huge undertaking such as developing a real alternative to word.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, Calligra has been around forever, and it's been going nowhere in all that time.

I wouldn't place too much hope in it.

[-] myopic_menace@reddthat.com 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Tried it a few months ago! I'll never complain about alternative software, but it currently has only the basics. Until its further developed, I wouldn't be comfortable recommending this over LibreOffice to anyone.

[-] baggins@beehaw.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

Tried it today with the same thought .

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 weeks ago

Interesting, never seen this recommended as an Office alternative. Seems this is nothing new, it was released as KOffice in 2000. Calligra 4.0 was released in August this year though, so it is actively developed. Wonder why it is seldom recommended?

I would like to check this out. Currently in the process of making some presentations outside of work, and using LibreOffice Impress after weighing it up against OnlyOffice Presentation. Both tools leave much to be desired, unfortunately. Both in terms of stability, ease of use and features. For now, Powerpoint does a better job (but also this has some huge annoyances that I think an open source alternative would be better addressing). I am on a deadline, so I do not dare to change up my tools now, so it will be for later.

[-] bunitor@lemmy.eco.br 2 points 2 weeks ago

Wonder why it is seldom recommended?

it's simply not good enough for daily use, unfortunately

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 weeks ago

Just realized... why is this not called Kalligra? Boo...

[-] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 weeks ago

Many more recently named KDE apps don't have a K in them, like Dolphin or Elisa or NeoChat. Naming everything with a K in it was mainly something early KDE did.

[-] andrewth09@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Open a ticket.

[-] mathemachristian@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago

another one?

[-] mathias_freire@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 weeks ago

Calligra has been around for a quite while and it's still not on par with either MS Office or Libreoffice.

[-] FQQD@lemmy.ohaa.xyz 7 points 2 weeks ago

Certainly looks interesting. Being made by the KDE community, it actually may evolve to something great

[-] Grass@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago

I forgot that existed. I haven't used it and now I'm wondering how it compares to libreoffice

[-] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 weeks ago

My abiding memory of it that it handled the basics very well but lacked advanced features. That was a long time ago though so it may have changed.

[-] AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 5 points 2 weeks ago

...why are we making a competitor to libreoffice

[-] semperverus@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly i'm cool with it. Libreoffice is awesome but is perpetually behind the curve on a lot of things.

My biggest pain points with it currently are:

  • No apparent motivation to incorporate Wayland support, resulting in very strangely sized UI elements or dropdown/popup menus that appear very far away from where you clicked

  • Pivot tables.

And thats just two examples, there are several others.

If this KDE one brings out the big guns, I am super down for it.

[-] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

Libre Office and Only Office are the only real MS alternatives (which offer decent compatibility) at the moment but I'm excited for KDE expanding its own suite of software, which is something that GNOME has had over it for a long time now.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Expanding? Calligra/KOffice predates LibreOffice/OpenOffice, it just lost on mind share because the Gnome fanatics hate anything KDE more than the messiest OpenOffice spaghetti code.

[-] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

Oh even better then. I hope it picks up with improved KDE popularity recently!

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[-] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, but it's nothing new.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

Interesting

Not quite Libreoffice but looks cool

[-] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I still have to use Word for things because LibreOffice hates tables. Every doc I have to edit explodes violently when ooened in LibreOffice, and fixing the formatting to work in LibO would take far too long for the time available to do it.

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[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Cool, and this is a good thing. I like it.

That said, after loading KDE on a system this weekend I was reminded of how much like Windows KDE is (on purpose, of course) and how I don't like it.

It's brilliant for someone moving to linux from Windows who "likes Windows" and it's beautiful and fast and free. Just not my preference.

[-] Allero@lemmy.today 7 points 2 weeks ago

For me KDE is "Windows UI done right". The layout I prefer, done better than by a trillion dollar corporation. Ergonomic. Beautiful. Just right.

At the same time, Cinnamon, originating from GNOME in an attempt to make it more "Windows-like", is my personal horror, like a collection of all things Windows has done wrong and then some more. Bulky. Rigid. Poor and complicated personalization. But that's truly the beauty of it - for some, Cinnamon is superb.

As per non-Windows style layouts, I tried to force myself to get to know and love them, but they really don't click with me. Windows has done it the way I like, and KDE does it in a way that I don't want to go back to genuine Windows UI, either.

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Perfect - yes, that's exactly how it should be. I put plasma neon on an old laptop and went back to wipe it with a new distro but it worked so well I just left it.

[-] bunitor@lemmy.eco.br 2 points 2 weeks ago

what does this have to do with the thread?

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[-] Xeroxchasechase@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

But you can change it almost totally, to behave and look more mac os or anything else.

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

True, it's just my current distro-of-choice does that out of the box so I just pick the color scheme and I'm off to the races.

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this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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