I got a copy of Openoffice.org 1.1 in a CD from a linux magazine in India. I ran the install in my normal user identity. The installer created a directory in my home directory. Then I tried to install as root and the installer created a directory in the /root folder. Also, I am unable to configure the icons in KDE's start menu to use the new installation site.

I have heard that Openoffice.org 1.1 is a vast improvement over 1.0 and want to use it.

Is there a guide available on the net that I can use for this purpose or can someone who has the requisite experience guide me?

Hi, I think you should first do a -net installation as root and then a workstation installation (~1.4 MB) as a normal user. Some time ago I found this on the openoffice homepage, it does not appy 100% to your situation but I think one can see the important steps:

<quote>
Linux Set Up

-Martijn Dekkers

Last updated 2002 June 05

Installing OpenOffice.org on Linux is very easy! To make sure you get the best possible setup, simply follow these steps.
Prerequisites

If you want Java integration, you want to make sure you have the latest JRE installed. It should be at least JRE 1.3. You can find the JRE for Linux at the Blackdown site - alternatively, it might be included on the installation media of your distro.
Make sure you are root
Download the tarball from OpenOffice.org, and extract the tarball (.tar.gz file) to a temporary directory. "/tmp" is a good place for example. For the purpose of this example, I will assume you have downloaded the tarball to your /tmp directory. Open a terminal, such as xterm or konsole. To extract the tarball, change to the /tmp directory: cd /tmp and extract the tarball: "tar -zxvf [tarball name]".
This will create a directory "install". Change into this directory: "cd install."
Execute the install scripts. This is done with the following command: "./install --prefix=/opt" This command will setup the first step of the Linux setup process, and install to the /opt directory. For more install options, see ./install --help
When the installer is finished, you should execute the user-setup for OpenOffice.org. To do so, make sure you are no longer root - i.e. become a regular user, then change into the program directory where you installed OpenOffice.org: cd /opt/OpenOffice.org1.0, and execute the following command: "./setup"
The user portion of setup will now execute. Tell setup to perform a Workstation installation (should copy about 1.4 MB of files to your home directory) and tell it to store the files in your user directory under the OpenOffice.org1.0 directory (for example: "/home/billg/OpenOffice.org1.0"). Follow the instructions and fill in your contact details, and tell OpenOffice.org where your Java installation lives. When setup asks where to install the files for OpenOffice, Usually, OpenOffice.org will find Java on its own, but sometimes it need you to give the path to Java. (tip: if you don't know the path to your java setup, you can type in the command line: whereis java - this will give the path to your java installation)
That's it! If you use GNOME or KDE (provided your distro keeps the KDE user files in ~/.kde2), you will find that OpenOffice.org 1.0 is fully integrated in your environment. If you use a different Windowmanager, you can start OpenOffice.org 1.0 by typing ~/OpenOffice.org1.0/soffice
You may remove the install files in /tmp, if you are done installing. (thanks to Henrik Eismark for pointing this out)

Have Fun!

Martijn Dekkers,
Volunteer Co-Lead Website Project
Volunteer Screenshots Maintainer
Founder, OOoDocs

</quote>

hope this helps.
Blaumieser