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Goodbye OpenOffice. LibreOffice, Here I Come!


sunrat

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Guest LilBambi

Was hopeful that it would.And this is why: (at the same blog BTW) Keeping Free Softare/Open Source Vendors Honest:

I really like the recent trend of communities forking free software projects when they become unhappy with the direction that the parent company or organization is taking. The first example of this in my memory was when the creator of MySQL, Michael Widenius, created a fork called MariaDB due to his unhappiness with the purchase of Sun Microsytems by Oracle. Widenius feared that Oracle would damage or destroy MySQL, the free software database that his blood, sweat, and tears created and that Sun faithfully supported. Recent events have shown that his fears were valid. More recently, former members of the OpenOffice.org Foundation created a fork of OpenOffice called LibreOffice due to similar fears. Today, it was announced that some members of the Madriva community have created a Mandriva fork called Mageia because they no longer trust the direction in which Mandriva is being taken.
More in the article...As someone noted in the comment area, forking is nothing new. But the need for such things seem to be multiplying.
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securitybreach

Well Archlinux had Libre Office in the community repos so decided to download and installed Libre along side OpenOffice. I have to say it looks noticeably more polished and easier to read. I have opened numerous documents and every thing seems fine. Here is a screenshot of them side by side: 9d7706100560291.jpg Libre is on the right hand side. I changed the gtk theme to lighter one so it is a little easier to compare them. Although Libre looks perfect using a darker theme.

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securitybreach
*sigh* More forkin'? :(So, explain to me again... what's so bad about Open Office now?
This article explains the reasons behind doing this:
The Document Foundation has been presented not so much as a fork as a chance to refresh the development of OpenOffice.org around a broad-based ecosystem that is no longer reliant on the commercial interests of a single company. LibreOffice is not the first fork of OpenOffice.org that has taken place, but previous forks or branches such as Go-OO have only enjoyed limited community support.Significantly, Oracle has been invited to become a member of the new foundation and to "donate the brand the community has grown during the past ten years". While Oracle considers this invitation the project will continue under the LibreOffice brand. In the words of Michael Meeks "Ten years after Sun's original promise of independence for the OpenOffice.org community we are going to create the non-profit foundation around OpenOffice that they promised on day one."
http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Libr...ce-1097358.html
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V.T. Eric Layton

Everyone is so commercial phobic around here... bunch of Marxists I've fallen in amongst, it seems. Can I still be a capitalist pig-dog? And will you still love me? :hysterical:

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Everyone is so commercial phobic around here... bunch of Marxists I've fallen in amongst, it seems. Can I still be a capitalist pig-dog? And will you still love me? :)
Nahh, we are just a bunch of software hippies :hysterical:
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Guest LilBambi

This is, I believe, more a CYA against the possibility that the ONLY truly viable OPEN office suite, OpenOffice.org would be gone before anything could be done about it if Oracle decided not to be as good a steward as they could be.

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Everyone is so commercial phobic around here... bunch of Marxists I've fallen in amongst, it seems. Can I still be a capitalist pig-dog? And will you still love me? :hysterical:
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool conservative and detest Marxist. But I also detest monopolist that use Big Govt to guarantee them a marketplace advantage. Try reading what Thomas Jefferson wrote about copyrights. You'd have a very hard time characterizing him as a Marxist.Most people equate Big Business with capitalism and it just isn't true. Bill Gates was all about collecting patents and copyrights and NOT about innovation. While there may be justification for patents and copyrights in some cases, it can't be denied that they are anti free-market. Philosophically, they are meant to help the individual entrepreneur/inventor. In practice, they almost invariably benefit Big Business to the detriment of the general public.
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I view this as a good thing. It'll teach me how to uninstall stuff.
:hysterical: no hurry yet... besides, there is also IBM's "flavour" available (free of charge, but requires registration).Uninstalling is SOOOOOOO difficult... open Synaptic, select package(s) you want to unistall, choose either "remove" or "completely remove"... the latter removes user setting files as well. The corresponding terminal commands are apt-get remove name(s)_of_the_package(s) and apt-get purge name(s)_of_the_package(s)
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securitybreach
I view this as a good thing. It'll teach me how to uninstall stuff.
I just uninstalled OpenOffice myself. I rarely use a Office suite (more of a vim type) and since Libre looks so nice, I think I will just keep it instead of OpenOffice.
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Immediately after the fork, there would be very little difference between it and the original app. So no rush to uninstall.My OOo looks much more like the screenshot of Libre Office than the OOo shot that Josh posted, although the icons (Galaxy) are different from both of them.oooxa.png

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jimtheplanner

mmmmmH Looks like Oracle have thrown the toys out the pram.....

Oracle has said that it will not be working directly with The Document Foundation and its LibreOffice fork of the OpenOffice.org office suite. In an email to ComputerWorld's Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols  from Oracle's public relations office the company said that it believes that OpenOffice.org is the most advanced and feature rich implementation and encourages the OpenOffice community to contribute directly to it.

The HThey don't seem happy to help - or it it just me?Jim :thumbsup:

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They don't seem happy to help - or it it just me?
I actually think it's a GOOD sign, Jim. Oracle is a corporate entity after all and needs to focus on certain things. This is just saying that they're going to continue support for Open Office but they encourage others to support the new fork.Neither one would make them a dime; it's hardly surprising that they wouldn't be supporting both. I think it's good that they're announcing their intent to continue Open Office support.
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I downloaded it, created a folder " libre ", moved the download into it, tared it ( so it seems, and here is where I am;

[rejean@localhost ~]$ cd libre/[rejean@localhost libre]$ lsen-US/  LO_3.3.0-beta1_Linux_x86_install-rpm_en-US.tar.gz[rejean@localhost libre]$ cd  en-US/[rejean@localhost en-US]$ lslicenses/  readmes/  RPMS/  update*

with the content of RPMS/being;

[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ lsdesktop-integration/libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice-ure-1.7.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-binfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core01-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core02-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core03-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core04-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core05-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core06-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core07-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-binfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-help-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-res-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-mediawiki-publisher-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-pdf-import-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-presentation-minimizer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-presenter-screen-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-report-builder-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-gnome-integration-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-graphicfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-images-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-javafilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-kde-integration-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ogltrans-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ooofonts-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ooolinguistic-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-pyuno-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-testtool-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-xsltfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpm[rejean@localhost RPMS]$

so where would one go from here?

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They are pretty blunt on the Libre site that one should not rush into it (or at least use caution) since they consider it only a beta at this point:

This beta release is not intended for production use! Be advised that the current beta might replace your OpenOffice.org installation.
Bill Edited by BillD
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so where would one go from here?
Look in the readmes folder to see if the installation instructions are there. I would guess that the libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpm package is a metapackage that has dependencies for all the other packages so should install them all using rpm -i.
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I had read the readme file and couldn't make much sense of it beside uninstalling the original Open Office;

Notes on InstallationSystem Requirements * Linux Kernel version 2.6.18 or higher * glibc2 version 2.5 or higher * gtk version 2.10.4 or higher * Pentium compatible PC (Pentium III or Athlon recommended) * 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended) * Up to 1.55 GB available hard disk space * X Server with 1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), with at least 256 colors * Window Manager * Gnome 2.16 or higher, with the gail 1.8.6 and the at-spi 1.7 packages, required for support of assistive technology tools (AT tools)There is a wide variety of Linux distributions, and even within the same distribution there may be different installation options (KDE vs Gnome, etc.). Some distributions ship with their own ‘native’ version of LibreOffice, which may have different features from this Community LibreOffice. Sometimes you can install the Community LibreOffice alongside the ‘native’ version. However, it’s usually safer to remove the ‘native’ version before installing this Community version. Consult the documentation for your distribution for details of how to do this.It is recommended that you always backup your system before you remove or install software.Please make sure you have enough free memory in the temporary directory on your system and that read, write and run access rights have been granted. Close all other programs before starting the installation.
and I tried your suggestion;
rejean@localhost RPMS]$ lsdesktop-integration/libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice3-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlibreoffice-ure-1.7.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-binfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core01-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core02-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core03-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core04-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core05-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core06-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-core07-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-binfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-calc-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-draw-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-help-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-res-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-en-US-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-mediawiki-publisher-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-pdf-import-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-presentation-minimizer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-presenter-screen-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-extension-report-builder-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-gnome-integration-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-graphicfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-images-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-impress-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-javafilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-kde-integration-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-math-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ogltrans-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ooofonts-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-ooolinguistic-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-pyuno-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-testtool-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-writer-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmlobasis3.3-xsltfilter-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpm[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -irpm: no packages given for install[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -i libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmerror: Failed dependencies:	libreoffice-ure is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core01 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core02 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core03 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core04 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core05 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core06 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-core07 is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-images is needed by libreoffice3-3.3.0-9526.i586[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -i libreoffice3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmerror: Failed dependencies:	libreoffice3 is needed by libreoffice3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-base is needed by libreoffice3-base-3.3.0-9526.i586[rejean@localhost RPMS]$

so I guess I'll wait before I go any further. Thanks, roger!

Edited by réjean
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so I also tried;

[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -i libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmerror: Failed dependencies:	libreoffice3 is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-base is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-calc is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-draw is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-help is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-impress is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-math is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-res is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586	lobasis3.3-en-US-writer is needed by libreoffice3-en-US-3.3.0-9526.i586[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -i lobasis3.3-core01-3.3.0-9526.i586.rpmerror: Failed dependencies:	libreoffice-ure is needed by lobasis3.3-core01-3.3.0-9526.i586[rejean@localhost RPMS]$ rpm -i libreoffice-ure-1.7.0-9526.i586.rpmerror: can't create transaction lock on /var/lib/rpm/__db.000 (No such file or directory)[rejean@localhost RPMS]$

with no positive results.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Réjean,You are in DEPENDENCY H3LL! The installation of that software requires you to have other software already installed. Each of the required applications and libraries will ALSO have required apps and other software. It's an ever-descending spiral to H3LL. Just give up on this and use the Open Office that is in your distribution's repositories.Believe me... you don't want to get involved in chasing all the necessary applications and libs to install this software. You know I wouldn't steer you wrong. I can guarantee you that Bruno would be telling you the same thing.Regards,~Eric

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securitybreach
They are pretty blunt on the Libre site that one should not rush into it (or at least use caution) since they consider it only a beta at this point: Bill
Thats because it uses the same build as OpenOffice 3.3.0 beta and you can tell by the icon set. The about dialog shows:
LibreOffice 3.3.0 OOO330m7 (Build:9526)libreoffice-build 3.2.99.0Copyright © 2000, 2010 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.This product was created by The Document Foundation, based on OpenOffice.org.OpenOffice.org acknowledges all community members, especially those mentioned at http://www.openoffice.org/welcome/credits.html.
I personally find it pretty stable and it seems faster than the OO build I used but then again it could just be the newer build of OO that brings the speed.Rejean: I agree with Eric, you are stuck in whats called Dependency H3ll. I have went through this a few times on rpm-based distros and trust me, it will drive you crazy and you will not be able to get everything installed. It is best to just stick with what your distro offers unless LibreOffice offers a standalone package that can run from a folder. Luckily Archlinux offered LibreOffice in one of their repos, so thats how I can run it.
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@Eric. Don't worry if it is that complicated I won't stream against the current. I have Open Office ( I have been using it for several years now. I like the fact that I can export a file as a PDF for example ) and until it gets easier to install Libre I will stick with it.@Josh. I was just wondering why some people were able to install Libre fairly easily while I was having such a hard time but I see that you are using ArchLinux ( which I haven't been able to install yet. Maybe when I receive my new hard drive I'll try again.)

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V.T. Eric Layton

Absolutely, Réjean... I have used OpenOffice for a long time, also. I LOVE it. I'm not worried about all the Oracle FUD going on about it currently. I'll use it till it's not usable. Oh, and that .pdf creator feature is COOL, huh? :yes:

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I love the OO PDF creator. I've been using it even under Windows. Beats the tar out of having to set it up in Photoshop. That's how I was distributing my resume. Great stuff! ;)

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securitybreach
I love the OO PDF creator. I've been using it even under Windows. Beats the tar out of having to set it up in Photoshop. That's how I was distributing my resume. Great stuff! :)
I read that as "That's how I was disturbing my resume" ;) ........ Need more coffee :whistling: Also, I have never used the PDF creator in OO, I may have to check it out. :hysterical:
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I don't use it very often but the other day my wife had to send a few pictures as PDF files. She asked me what to do. She asked me what to do. I told her that all we have is the Acrobat Reader and that I was not going to by the whole program for hundred of dollars.So I copied her folder unto my desktop. Then I created another folder. I opened hers and each file in OO which I exported into the other folder. Then I copied the new folder and posted it unto her Desktop. All in all it took about 15 minutes. Who can beat that?

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securitybreach
I don't use it very often but the other day my wife had to send a few pictures as PDF files. She asked me what to do. She asked me what to do. I told her that all we have is the Acrobat Reader and that I was not going to by the whole program for hundred of dollars.So I copied her folder unto my desktop. Then I created another folder. I opened hers and each file in OO which I exported into the other folder. Then I copied the new folder and posted it unto her Desktop. All in all it took about 15 minutes. Who can beat that?
Very cool ;)
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