Libreoffice on slackware
 

What is best way to install Libreoffice on Slackware? Its a large package so building it from Slackbuilds is likely to take long time on my slowish machine.

I use Alien Bob's Slackbuild. http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slac...s/libreoffice/

It's the easiest way I've found.

or use repackaged rpm binary from upstream in SBo: http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14...e/libreoffice/

How good is Libre Office compared to Open Office these days? The last time I used it was back in 2011 and I was not impressed with it then. Open Office was better then.

Rhetorical question coming.... Why does everyone always ask about LibreOffice, when Apache OpenOffice is the original open source product and works well on Slackware for 32 and 64 bit, also from http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14...penoffice.org/, OpenOffice the original open source alternative to that other massive proprietary suite.

Personal preference, but also more stable and less frequently updated. To me LibreOffice is too frequently updated and not as backward compatible with my original OpenOffice databases. The support on OpenOffice is still strong and they cleanup and update features regularly.

Really, this is a rhetorical question, I'm not looking for debate, just suggesting there is a smaller size OpenOffice suite, which is just as capable as LibreOffice and IMHO more stable. "Hey Mikey, Try it you'll like it!"

Because all the OpenOffice developers left the project and went to LibreOffice. If you want something rock-solid, use the stable version (currently 4.4.6). Otherwise, go for the latest (currently 5.0.3). The two versions are packaged in my repos: 4.4.6 in the 14.1 tree, 5.0.3 in the 14.2 tree.

Cheers,

Niki

I don't know about database support, but there is LibreOffice Still (slow release), and LibreOffice Fresh (fast release).

I know you said it is rhetorical, but it really didn't seem to be.

To build off what Niki said, Apache OpenOffice (what it is officially called) is also limited in license, in that it can't take from LibreOffice. LibreOffice is free to use code from OpenOffice, so they get the features they code, plus the features that OpenOffice introduces.

LibreOffice development moves much faster than OpenOffice's, but whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you to decide.

How-To Geek has a great article on it detailing the history and possible future of the two. Here is an excerpt covering the license issues:

I use LibreOffice because of better compatibility with Microsoft Office files. Also, I would recommend using AlienBob's stable package. The newest version (5.*) has some issues, for example not always showing figure legends.

Please note that the version of LibreOffice that can be installed using AlineBob packages depends on your Slackware version:

If you run Slackware 14.1, you can only install LibreOffice 4.4.5 (LibreOffice Still)
If you run Slackware -current, you can install LibreOffice 5.0.2 (LibreOffice Fresh) or 4.4.5 as AlienBob remarked in one of his blog post:

Alienbob's slackbuild for Libreoffice 5.0.2.2 builds on a clean fresh install of Slackware64-14.1 without issue. I update and re-compile each and every time Alien offers a new slackbuild.
HTH
John

IF you did a full standard install (as recommended) there is the installed KDE Suite which includes Calligra, Kexi, Krita, and other office applications, so you don't have to install LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice. Calligra can read Microsoft documents and save to the opensource standards for Microsoft users to open. Or if you want to keep it locked you can always print to pdf file and send the pdf to them. Calligra can be used in any "X" based window manager or desktop environment.

Most people prefer the layout of Libre and OpenOffice rather than Calligra's, but honestly, just use the SBo package for easier dealings for LibreOffice.

Big fat caveat on DOCX files. If you modify them with LibreOffice, you might have some nasty surprises in the form of severe data loss. I had this problem with a couple of clients, and I'm not issuing warnings about this. On the other hand, the LibreOffice developers have already done a nice job, since DOCX is not exactly a documented format. :)

Here's LibreOffice 5.0.3 for either Slackware 14.1 or Slackware 14.2:

• LibreOffice 5.0.3 32-bit
• LibreOffice 5.0.3 64-bit

Language and helpfile packs for german and french are in the same repositories. I've simply repackaged LibreOffice.org's binaries for Slackware.

Cheers,

Niki