<s>
GNU	B-Application
Oleo	I-Application
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
lightweight	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
spreadsheet	B-Application
originally	O
designed	O
as	O
a	O
text-based	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
using	O
the	O
curses	B-Device
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
started	O
in	O
1992	O
by	O
Tom	O
Lord	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
initiative	I-Application
around	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
open	O
source	O
alternative	O
was	O
the	O
older	O
text-based	O
sc	B-Device
,	O
both	O
products	O
having	O
similar	O
functionality	O
to	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Lotus	B-Application
123	I-Application
or	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
's	O
key	O
bindings	O
however	O
were	O
inspired	O
from	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
world	O
,	O
and	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
emacs	B-Application
editor	O
,	O
which	O
frustrated	O
novice	O
users	O
familiar	O
with	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
counterparts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
and	O
sc	B-Device
were	O
the	O
first	O
Unix	B-Application
spreadsheet	B-Application
applications	O
to	O
acquire	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Oleo	O
was	O
officially	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
project	I-Application
,	O
it	O
was	O
dubbed	O
"	O
GNU	O
's	O
response	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
"	O
in	O
a	O
1996	O
article	O
in	O
iX	O
magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
also	O
worked	O
well	O
in	O
a	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
environment	O
;	O
a	O
FreeBSD	O
port	O
was	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1995	O
,	O
sc	B-Device
had	O
acquired	O
an	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
front-end	O
called	O
xspread	O
,	O
which	O
added	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
Oleo	O
acquired	O
a	O
Motif-like	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
relying	O
on	O
the	O
royalty-free	O
LessTif	B-Application
widget	O
set	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
GTK	B-Application
version	O
was	O
also	O
under	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1999	O
Oleo	O
was	O
still	O
judged	O
as	O
"	O
not	O
completely	O
usable	O
"	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
awkward	O
graphical	B-Application
interface	I-Application
lacking	O
in	O
user	O
friendliness	O
like	O
X-style	O
cut	B-General_Concept
,	I-General_Concept
copy	I-General_Concept
,	I-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
paste	I-General_Concept
or	O
tear-off	O
menus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1995	O
version	O
,	O
to	O
type	O
a	O
number	O
into	O
a	O
cell	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
to	O
hit	O
the	O
"	O
=	O
"	O
key	O
first	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Excel	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Graphics	O
are	O
drawn	O
using	O
the	O
device-independent	O
library	O
libplot	O
,	O
the	O
centerpiece	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
plotutils	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
offers	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
access	O
to	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
Scientific	I-Application
Library	I-Application
,	O
a	O
large	O
collection	O
of	O
mathematical	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
offers	O
some	O
database	O
connectivity	O
,	O
allowing	O
access	O
to	O
MySQL	B-Application
database	O
via	O
queries	O
,	O
Xbase	B-Language
and	O
DBF	B-Application
file	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
support	O
for	O
macro	O
programming	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
printing	O
purposes	O
it	O
supports	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
and	O
PostScript	B-Language
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Still	O
,	O
by	O
2000	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
import	O
Excel	B-Application
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
while	O
newer	O
open	O
source	O
alternatives	O
like	O
Gnumeric	B-Language
offered	O
this	O
feature	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
also	O
import	O
Oleo	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
was	O
still	O
recommended	O
as	O
a	O
console	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
application	O
in	O
a	O
2005	O
article	O
in	O
Linux.com,	O
but	O
the	O
reviewer	O
warns	O
that	O
"	O
I	O
had	O
expected	O
Oleo	O
to	O
be	O
more	O
intuitive	O
,	O
but	O
I	O
needed	O
multiple	O
sessions	O
with	O
the	O
info	O
file	O
before	O
I	O
could	O
use	O
it	O
proficiently	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
single	O
Oleo	O
process	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
the	O
display	O
of	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
file	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
but	O
GNU	B-Application
screen	I-Application
or	O
multiple	O
terminals	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
work-around	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oleo	O
supports	O
editing	O
the	O
same	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
in	O
concurrent	O
application	O
instances	O
.	O
</s>
