[franga2000]

It's a cool project, but wow is the top of the page just absolute buzzword salad!

> The democratization of spreadsheets > Empowering Everyone with Advanced, Open-Source Spreadsheet Solutions

It's a really fast spreadsheet engine that runs entirely in the browser and is fully open source. That's all the sales pitch I'd need, but I'm a developer...

So, serious question: who is this kind of marketing targeting?

[nhatcher]

I'm a software developer with extremely bad marketing skills...

This project targets both end spreadsheet users and developers. In its first an engine (a Rust crate) then a full fledged product.

FWIW, I'm over them moon this project is getting some traction :)

[bruce511]

This probably sounds daft, but I was trying to figure out on the site what platform it ran on.

It doesn't seem to say "in browser" - so I'm wondering if it's Windows or Mac or ...?

Since it is in-browser there's then no detail on what the scope is - where are the spreadsheets stored? How are they shared? Do I host it on my server? Are they stored on your server ? Can I embed it on an existing page? Can I update cells via JavaScript? Or websockets?

And so on.

Some of the above is inferable from the comments here, but not all.

Congratulations on a cool project - but you may want to "set the scene " as it were for prospective users.

[bonoboTP]

I agree that the bullet points feel like ChatGPT output. Whether an LLM was involved or not, it's good practice nowadays to avoid that AI style as many are getting used to spotting it and frown about it.

[HKH2]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'that AI style'. What are some examples?

[bonoboTP]

Gerund Adjective Noun (heading)

* Gerund Adjective Noun (bold): (colon) text (non-bold).

----

Already the format like this. Then plus points for sounding like an empty phrase that chatgpt likes. Eg from the heading "Addressing Unmet Needs" then bullet "Empowering SaaS Developers:" in bold.

It's hard to describe. If you use chatgpt a lot, you develop an intuition that has many components.

[HKH2]

I can sort of see what you're saying, but I think a lot of marketing is like that. Chatgpt is just regurgitating it.

[hcarvalhoalves]

It shows the main focus is not the technology, but the fact spreadsheets are important and deserve a robust open source alternative.

[Nathanba]

I think using the word "democratization" is the main issue, how does that even make sense in software? Who is doing the voting? You just "vote" by forking...? I don't get it, you also "vote" by using Microsoft Excel.

[mmooss]

'Democratization' IME usually refers to the foundation of democracy, equality in rights, freedom, and opportunity. It's something for the masses, for the people.

[Nathanba]

Yes I know what the word is being used these days for but it doesn't make sense. Democracy does not inherently have anything to do with these additional (also vague) terms.

[mmooss]

Democracy doesn't have anything to do with "equality in rights, freedom, and opportunity"? That is the point of and foundation of democracy - no democracy without them. It's incredible that people are so anxious to destroy freedom and humanitarianism (why?) that they adopt an obviously false history.

Those have long been believed to be the foundations of democracy; you might have heard this one, which founded one democracy:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...

That also says governments exist - their reason for being - is to protect those things you deny are relevant.

Then from the French Revolution, and now France's national motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. "Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité are fundamental values that define French society, and democratic life in general."

https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/liberte-egalite-fraterni...

From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, ...

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, ...

Article 01: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. ...

https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf

[Nathanba]

All of those are just additional things ones wishes democracies to have but are not inherent in the word definition. I can certainly see that some people wish to have the definition of "democracy" expanded to mean many additional things but that really isn't the point of having that very precise word.

[mmooss]

What basis do you have to say that? Otherwise, these claims are just bytes with no force behind them. You can see the overwhelming evidence and consensus otherwise, stretching over centuries!

Even more, why do you want it to be true? Why do people want to eliminate their own and others human rights, an incredibly positive basis for society and for your freedom and prosperity, which has resulted in what are by far the most successful societies and people, by many measures, in human history? You're giving away all that for what? To look clever and 'with it'? Smarter than democracy? Very clever.

You should be fighting for it, like your predecessors did. Otherwise, you'll lose it. There are people actively and successfully taking it away, while you are engaging in this philosphical exercise.

[nhatcher]

You are right. I created a ticket to remedy this:

https://github.com/ironcalc/ironcalc.github.io/issues/14