[qsort]

> So it’s like the Pareto frontier for software/data projects.

Yes, I like this point of view a lot. Like probably the majority of HN, I dread the very idea of a .xls file, but most problems are related to people not understanding the tradeoffs as opposed to shortcomings of Excel itself. "Usability by non-technical people" is a respectable if underappreciated dimension.

[prepend]

I have a friend who tells a story of how “Excel saved the world” because during the 2014/15 Ebola outbreak Excel was used so much.

So it’s not so much to exclude, but to figure out how to use it and include it.

I think Excel is like the saturated fat of the data world. Widely used, found bad in many situations, tried to be removed completely, replacements caused more harm (sugar), now figuring out the right kind and what combinations are good.