Thanks for the notes from the RH manual on the switches. That really helps.

You might find this interesting....a post on FedoraForum.org that describes how yum and rpm work. I learned that yum uses rpm, they are not completely different things. Very educational. And left me not doubting either one in particular.

I don't think rpm is my problem -- the root of it seems to be in that I used rpm and yum at different times for different purposes for the same program (install, uninstall, etc.) AND that I had 1.3 and 2.0.3 on my system at the same time (a clean uninstall of 1.3 would have been wise before starting with 2.0.3) AND the fact that I'm an adventurous noob who knows just enough to get in serious trouble. :)

One thing after I re-read that setup manual you linked for OOo2 -- I considered that it was saying that won't work on FC3 -- but that doesn't mean the other methods he suggests won't work. So I tried this:

...to make a file with a list of the OOo files on my system, then this:

...to erase those particular files (after examining the list of files). This process seems to have done a very tidy job of cleaning up my system of OOo files. I also deleted my /home/user/.openoffice (which was also recommended in the setup manual) to be sure there is not a trace of it left. Those files are not found by the rpm procedure.

Now I feel I could comfortably install OOo from yum, knowing that all yum is going to do is run an rpm....but first I would

to be sure yum itself is current. That's a new trick I picked up in all this searching. :) But maybe doing all this with yum in FC3 is part of the problem. Maybe none of it is up to date enough to cooperate with the new install of 2.0.3.

Now I have to decide....do I install 2.0.3 again or try 2.0.2?? (thanks for the mirror link)

RE: Firefox....
I have done the "enable java" thing in FF. It was already enabled before all this started. I was thinking it doesn't do anything, but since I've installed new Java I guess I could disable, restart, reenable.

RE: your install of 2.0.3
Just FYI mine worked just fine at first. It didn't fall apart until I had completed about 100 file conversions (doc to html) and about 50+ (doc to pdf). Then it suddenly crashed (that was whenI first got the error message about files not being installed). I have read similar reports on OOo forums, so I think it happens after some use...though I can't understand why.

EDIT: changed link to FedoraForums.org to enclose more useful keywords

Great. Now you tell me. I don't use it anyway. I was just waiting for the en_GB version but that could be ages yet.

Have a look at ahz's posts on the other thread I mentioned. If you are going to get OOo from OOo (as he does), you have to exclude the OOo in FC's repositories.

Deleting the user directory may have eliminated the problem.

I still think it's worth updating your most relevant thread on the other forum, particularly mentioning the fact that the problem arose after you had been using the feature successfully (?) for some time. There may be a bug. :twocents:

PS. Thanks for the reference re yum and rpm. :study:

lol, sorry 'bout that! :) But I did say...

...Maybe I should have said "a few HUNDRED times" :). Then again, it was really only a few runs...I did about 50 files per run of the wizard.

I read the posts by ahz (glad I found your edit with the other link, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind :)) and that's a good point about preventing yum from getting OOo from the repos. I'll go try to find a "relevant" thread on OOo to update. They all look pretty irrelevant now, having come this far....maybe I'll try to find one with a similar problem and add to it. I did add to one that seemed relevant, but no one has responded....I feel like a ghost over there! lol (actually, ahz did respond to one of my threads...I think he is the only one. :))