I recently ran into a problem with LibreOffice where I could not open a saved spreadsheet. I bit of research later I discovered this is not an uncommon problem with both OpenOffice and LibreOffice - you save your document, and every now and then something goes bad you will never again be able to open it. Kiss it goodbye.

This one caused me quite a bit of pain. I lost a entire day of work and it was very difficult to redo the work. I'm not very forgiving of this kind of thing, so I'm looking for another spreadsheet product that is hopefully more reliable.

Any recommendations?

Gnumeric is very stable.

Avoid spreadsheets.

I also recommend gnumeric, but any program is susceptible to data loss.

I don't think I've ever had that happen...

One thing to try--open the program first and then open the doc from there.

Huh??---How would that help with the OP's question?

spreadsheets are error-prone by design and so it would be a good idea to avoid them in the first place.

This kind of problem is very unusual in oo or libre office in any distro.
Which distro are you using?
version number of oo/libreoffice?
Even if is your RAM is not OK, there are document recovery options.
Does it relate to specific functions?!

I don't understand, can you be a bit more specific ? Something I can test using say gnumeric or libreoffice. How can I get an error ?

I have no clue what you are talking about.....the electronic spreadsheet is the backbone of a wide variety of business and engineering processes--with financial information, health and safety, etc. at stake. How could that be if they were "error-prone by design"???

As already stated, some kind of specific example would be good.

http://www.eusprig.org/horror-stories.htm
http://www.burns-stat.com/pages/Tuto...addiction.html
http://panko.shidler.hawaii.edu/My%2...s/Whatknow.htm

I see the majority of these are "operator error" = "user error". Nothing to do with spreadsheet error.
It's true that Excel is not the best spreadsheet. For most users Gnumeric is a much better option. For scientific users, use R or equivalent.
Again focuses on user error.

Here's a reason I recommend Gnumeric over Excel:
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~bdm25/excel2007.pdf
besides of course it being FLOSS and not produced by M$...

amani;

"Tex" takes the time to read your links---most of us are not going to do that.

Can you not tell us in your own words what you think the issue is? Please include an explanation of why so many complex operations in engineering, finance, etc. are able to DEPEND on spreadsheets in their daily operations.

My main point is that the UI of Spreadsheets leads to intolerable levels of errors. Users cannot stand the coupling of explicit data and computations at the same abstraction level.
Programs like excel have other flaws in them.
Also, they cannot handle complexity and do not have advanced computing engines in them.
In engineering, people generally prefer other tools.
People do not change easily and that is main reason people in finance are stuck to them. Some of them are aware of the problems, but try to minimize errors by wasting resources. I have migrated finance people to GNU/R from "spreadsheets and other s/w". All it needs is a little push.

It is almost always better to avoid looking at data sets directly and process them with statistical or scientific computing or database tools (if appropriate).

Amani;
This is a bit more complete and specific, but you still have these vague and unsubstantiated statements--eg:
Speaking to your various other points:
The UI of a spreadsheet is pretty simple---enter data or formulas in cells---how does that lead to intolerable levels of errors? (One does of course need a few minutes of instruction--or manual reading--to know what to put in the cells)

I have no idea what you are saying here

An application based on a spreadsheet can be as complex as you want to make it.

I cannot recall needing a math function that I could not do with a spreadsheet---can you give an example?

My experience is the opposite. To be sure, there are some things done better with something like Matlab, but I've seen all manner of sophisticated analysis tools done with spreadsheets.

Summary:
Spreadsheets are in common and widespread use in business, finance, science and engineering--including situations where the results must be reliable. This would not be possible if the fundamental concept and/or design were fundamentally flawed. For any problem where the spreadsheet can provide a straightforward solution, there is no reason not to use it---in many cases it will be faster and easier that other alternatives.

Now--back to the topic of the thread??

@Pixellany, you will really need to read the links provided. All your questions are answered there.

I am afraid we are not communicating....I have no intention of reading all those links. I have not heard any arguments to support the original assertion that "spreadsheets are fundamentally flawed". (And--I did not have any questions.... )

If you want to pursue this, then how do explain this reality that I have cited???