file conversion problem -- .docx to .odt
 

Hello,
This is a two-part question.

I am trying to copyedit a .docx file in LibreOffice 3.5.7.2 using Linux Mint 13 on my Dell desktop. The file will open in LibreOffice, but there are formatting errors and what I think are interlacing errors (the file contains images). Here is a link to a screen capture of one of the goofed-up images, a picture of Michelangelo's David.

Part 1:
I thought it would make sense to try updating LibreOffice first, to see if that would fix the problem. For some reason, although there is now a newer version of LibreOffice available, it isn't updating through the Update Manager. When I tried to update it through the Software Manager, it acts as thought LibreOffice is not already installed. Can someone tell me how to update my current version safely via the command line? There are conflicting instructions about how to do this on the web.

Part 2:
The person for whom I am editing this document really wants me to do the editing in MS Word. I am willing to buy a 1-month subscription to MS Office 365 Personal in order to do this, but would really prefer not to muck up my hard drive with Windows again. So, alternatively, does anyone know if I can run Office 365 Personal off a memory stick through Wine or Virtual Box? Needless to say, Office 365's free help desk was not very helpful in answering this question.

Thanks. I still have the copy of Windows 7 that came with my Dell, but I've been completely Microsoft-free for several years, and I really don't want to muck up my hard drive with their products again if I can help it.

Somtimes an online converter can do the jiob better try:
http://document.online-convert.com/convert-to-odt

I have also had problema in the past and found that converting to somthing like rtf as an intermediate step sometimes fixes conversion errors.

i would use your package manager to uninstall the very OLD libreoffice 3.5

then grab the current from the website

( you are using Mint so the deb file )
64 bit Deb for LO 4.4.3
http://donate.libreoffice.org/home/d...-64_deb.tar.gz

rtf is ok for text but images could be another problem.

Libre office/open office, seems to always have render problems when using data from windoze office documents.

Then W.office does n't do a great job of rendering odf docs either.

One solution might be to install W.office under wine?

Otherwise get the recipient to install open office/libra office?

Fred.

MS office-XP and 2003 and 2007 install under WINE
BUT the current versions ???

you NEED to use a version of MS office NEWER or the same as the person that sent you the MS document

https://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?appId=31

MS office 2010(32bit) and 2013 are GARBAGE

@John_VV: I should have replied last night, but forgot. Sorry. I uninstalled the old version of LibreOffice -- had to do it through the command line since the core program wasn't showing up in the package manager -- then spent 4 hours trying to install the new one before giving up for the night. It is showing up in the application menu, but not opening. Will try again today.

Thanks for the pointer about program versions. I might be able to get away with Office 2007, since that's the oldest version that will open .docx files. If not, then I may be forced to reinstall Windows. Expletive.

@Fred Caro: Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, the person who offered me the editing work has no interest in switching writing programs. Apparently, all the publishers she has worked with require either Word or PDF formats for author submissions. Since they require it, writers and editors have to use it -- and pay for it. I was reading frustrated posts by authors and editors about that problem while I was trying to install the updated version of LibreOffice last night.

???
did you read "README_en-US" in the archive

extract the tarball
LibreOffice_4.4.3_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz

should take under a minute to install

@John VV: Thanks for this. I just followed your instructions, and the software appeared to install. However, it isn't showing up in the menu, and when I search for it the search feature doesn't find it. There were no errors in the installation. When I try to open LibreOffice from the terminal, I get the following:

The program 'libreoffice' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install libreoffice-common

I've left the terminal window open in case you want to see the installation process.

i use rpm distros
i am guessing there is something like this in Mint


a office desktop integration package
or "alacarte"

you can always just make a launcher .desktop file
/usr/share/applications


now not to interfere with other things
LO installs to
/opt/libreoffice4.4/
and the programs are in

/opt/libreoffice4.4/program/

"soffice"( shell script) is the name of the OVER GUI LAUNCHER that starts everything
and
"swriter" is the script that starts the "writer"( ms word) the document editor

LibreOffice is the office suite that is listed in the Software Manager, but for some reason it isn't getting updated there. The version that's listed is the old one that I had.

I'm going to try to set myself up with a dual boot in Windows 7 and Mint 17, with fresh installations of both operating systems. I celebrated when I removed Windows from my computer, and I had promised myself that this day would never come, but I need this freelance work. Microsoft has a monthly subscription service now for Office, so I can subscribe only when I need it. Mint 17 comes packaged with the updated version of LibreOffice, so that will solve that problem.

I would really like to get better at problem solving in Linux via command line. Could you recommend any good reference books for this?

OpenOffice/LibreOffice compatibility with MS Word is horrible. Don't bother with different versions, it will never be right. I've tried using OO/LO to open MS Word documents for years, covering every version from 1.x through the brand spanking new ones, they're ALL horrible when it comes to doc/docx formatting. As soon as the document stops looking like Notepad (ANY formatting, bullets, images, columns, etc.) compatibility goes out the window. Stop wasting your time with it. If you need MS Office, you need MS Office. Period. There are no truly compatible alternatives (not even any remotely compatible alternatives).

If you want to do it right, install a version of Windows in VirtualBox and install Office on that. No need to dual boot, re-partition your hard drive, reboot every time you want to use office, etc. provided your machine is powerful enough to run Windows and Linux simultaneously (at least 8 GB of RAM and dual core).

If the people that accept the work will take .pdf files then why not simply export the .odf files from libre/open office into PDF's using libre/open office?

Fred.

If you were to boot from a recent DVD of a big Linux, this would have a late version of Libre Office.
So you could run it (without installing anything) against your document on a USB stick.

It would run quite slowly, though.