Libreoffice is slower than it used to be
 

Hello, folks.

I use LO from alienbob repo. Not long ago I tried to open quite a big (for me at least) spreadsheet file (ods of course) and found that LO was unusually slow. After some test I found that it's not just LO, it's alienbob version of LO that is slow. I tried LO in latest linux mint and appimage with latest still version. AppImage in Slackware was definitely slower than native package in linux mint, but what more curious is that appimage in slackware is much faster than native package from alienbob! So I came to find some advice, what could be wrong and how to fix native package.

Here is a little video with example (first, I opened a file with LO from appimage, then I opened the same file with native LO in Slackware 15.0) - https://file.io/sxjbvXTAbgis

And this file isn't really big. Just 10 000 rows and 6 columns. If I made it larger the difference becomes insane (native package becomes x5 times slower).

It's not the build on AlienBob's repo. Even the upstream rpms got significantly slower one or two minor versions ago. Hopefully the LibreOffice developers will address the situation at some point.

It's not just opening and saving files. It seems sluggish everywhere. I'd appreciate if someone can help identify a version before the regression. I was about ready to compile a version 6.x because of the skia rendering change that became default in 7.x.

The only thing I can say for certain is that 7.3.7 AppImage from official site works faster and more responsive than 7.4.3 from alienbob repo. I converted official 7.3.7 rpm package to slackware package. It works better than 7.3.7 AppImage and no doubts much faster than 7.4.3 from alienbob. Also I'm pretty certain it's not alienbobs fault. More looks like it's an LO issue. It's a good time for me to start saving old package versions in my home local repo to avoid such problems.

If anybody needs 7.3.7 native package - here it is - https://file.io/WxK5tp5Q185j

https://downloadarchive.documentfoun...breoffice/old/

I might be stating the obvious but old versions available as rpm binaries from the archive above. Might save compiling for those who wish to try earlier versions.

I find LO unusable on a core-duo vintage laptop now. Needs an i5 class machine. Time marches on I suppose.

Depending on your needs and preferences (you'll miss a few functions plus that you'll experience more - but minor - MSWord compatibility issues), OpenOffice might be an alternative. Definitely more lightweight: LibreOffice with a blank document opened takes >300 MB RAM, OpenOffice stays at around 150.

Thanks, but OO is far behind LO, not to say MO. It lacks some features I need on daily basis. That's why I use LO on linux. For bigger projects I use MO.

Maybe it's not related, but I had a similar behavior, very unresponsive LibreOffice (I use the official RPMs converted to .txz), particularly slow rendering.
After a long forum search and trying, I discovered that the issue I had is that I was not installing:

libobasis7.4-gnome-integration-#.#.#.#-#.x86_64.rpm

A.F.A.I.K. without this one LibreOffice uses slow rendering routines, instead of using advanced features from GTK. Similarly, it seems that if you are using KDE you have to install:

libobasis7.4-kde-integration-7.4.3.2-2.x86_64.rpm

To use the QT rendering.

You see, LibreOffice runs without these two packages, no errors nor warnings. But with a very anoying performance loss.

wainamoinen, I do have kde-integration package installed (also from alienbob repo). It doesn't affect performance IMO.