A software question

[Marthe48]

I am going to work on some dbs for the local Democratic Party org. I have Libre on my laptop. I checked and found information that I can work in Libre document and save a spreadsheet as an Excel document. I did a test and saved a Libre document as an Excel. It opened as Excel (unlicensed product) I'll be working with an Excel sheet that I'd open in Libre and save as Excel, and then return to the Dem office when I complete the work I'm doing.

Should I do that, or just download an Excel trial? I don't want to mess up the local dbs that I'll be working with. I'm retired, so I don't really need more than what I have for my own work.

Thanks for any insight. I sure liked it better when the software came with the hardware.

[Goonch]

1. May help you decide:

https://www.strategicsourceror.com/2014/01/can-libre-calc-replace-microsoft-office.html

[Marthe48]

6. I read this

I'll have to see what they give me to work on-if there are many coulmns or formulas, I will prob. use excel. I can sign up for 30 days and cancel any time.

Thank you for your help

[Susan Calvin]

2. Try OpenOffice.

https://www.openoffice.org/

[Marthe48]

7. Thanks!

Lots of options.

I have Libre on my laptop and have used it for about a year, mainly for text or screen shots. Good to be aware of other programs

[hunter]

8. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice

Oracle acquired Open Office when they bought Sun Microsystems and let it languish. Some of the main developers left to create LibreOffice. Oracle then abandoned Open Office and handed the software off to the Apache Software Foundation

https://www.howtogeek.com/187663/openoffice-vs.-libreoffice-whats-the-difference-and-which-should-you-use/

[Susan Calvin]

9. Yeah, when I looked it up I noticed it said Apache. nt

[Susan Calvin]

10. But that should mean

That that you should be able to do an Excel compatible format with Libre, right?

[canetoad]

3. If the Libre program

Saves as .xls or .xlsx you're in business.

To be 100% sure, also save the document as a .csv (comma separated values) which is openable by Excel. You won't need to give it a different name, because the file format is different.

What Is a CSV File, and How Do I Open It?
https://www.howtogeek.com/348960/what-is-a-csv-file-and-how-do-i-open-it/

A Comma Separated Values (CSV) file is a plain text file that contains a list of data. These files are often used for exchanging data between different applications. For example, databases and contact managers often support CSV files.

[lastlib]

4. This is a good "Plan B"

Excel and any good DBMS can read .csv files readily. You won't have any problem there.

[Marthe48]

5. I've used the CSV files to save my email contacts

Thanks for sharing this idea