Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Issues with installing under all GNU/Linux Distributions
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Villeroy
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Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Villeroy »

Out of curiosity I installed a vanilla Ubuntu on a new laptop mainly because I wanted to see why there is so much noise, gossip and complaints about the Unity shell. Ubuntu 12.04 ("Precise Pangolin") comes with LibreOffice 3.5 pre-installed which is just fine but under XFCE I used to run many versions of OOo, AOO, LIbO together with AbiWord and Gnumeric.

I found a German tutorial describing the usage of Unity and its major problems with certain applications and certain users as well and patiently I spent a couple of days with the new concept.

1) Neither LibO nor AOO are perfectly integrated applications. They don't merge their application menu into the system wide task bar and contrary to the "integrated" applications they show their usual scroll bars all the time. No problem so far. I can live with that since there is no loss of functionality. These features may be be more important with very small screens.
2) I can make the icon of a running AOO stick to the starter bar but after closing AOO the new starter fails to re-launch AOO.
3) I can not install the desktop integration package for AOO because it conflicts with the one of LibO. Under any other shell this conflict does not impose any problem because you are free to add your own application starters, symlinks and menu entries wherever you want. For regular desktop starters under Unity one would drag the starter from the dash onto the desktop. However AOO does not appear in the dash even when I point to its executable, so I can not add any desktop icon this way.
4) On file system level I can add a symlink to the desktop folder pointing to the AOO soffice executable but that does not launch AOO neither.

So far I can start AOO as second office suite under Unity from a command line only. Personally, I have no problem with starting applications from the command line but many other users will not accept this and stick with one "integrated" office suite only.

OK, let's try harder to get some kind of launcher for a secondary office suite:
Find LibreOffice in the dash and drag it onto the desktop so you can redirect the new desktop link to AOO. Result: Unity creates broken links for LibO or any of its components. Surely a Unity bug.
Let's do the same with some other application, say "System Monitor". Result: I get a working desktop link to launch the system monitor. I can modify the label, change the icon and replace the start command with /opt/openoffice.org3/program/soffice
Success :bravo:
Being tough enough for Base is the best qualification for customizing the Unity shell :twisted:
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Hagar Delest »

Can't help since I don't like Unity, I use Gnome 3.2. Don't remember how I created manually the shortcuts in the "dash board" but it worked (I did it for AOO and other applications that don't have any desktop integration like FF and TB betas).
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
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Villeroy
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Villeroy »

This is how to integrate both office suites into the desktop environment (Unity, XFCE, whatever):
There is only one problem when you try to install the destop integration package for AOO as second suite after LibreOffice. The package tries to replace the symbolic link /usr/bin/soffice pointing to /usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice with its own link pointing to /opt/openoffice.org3/program/soffice
No problem with that. Just install the package with option --force-overwrite

Code: Select all

cd ~/Downloads/en-GB/DEBS/desktop-integration/
sudo dpkg --force-overwrite -i openoffice.org3.4-debian-menus_3.4-9593_all.deb
This will overwrite the /usr/bin/soffice link only. Anything that used to use that link to call libreoffice will call AOO now. The path still incudes libreoffice and loffice commands to call LibreOffice.
Unity shows all components from both office suites side by side and I can attach the AOO logo to the launcher.
XFCE includes all components from both office suites in the main menu.
I can choose both in the open-with menu of either file manager.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
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RoryOF
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by RoryOF »

Hagar Delest wrote:Can't help since I don't like Unity, I use Gnome 3.2. Don't remember how I created manually the shortcuts in the "dash board" but it worked (I did it for AOO and other applications that don't have any desktop integration like FF and TB betas).
I use Classic Gnome. One can make a shortcut on the toolbar ('Panel') by dragging an item from its Applications menu entry to the tool bar. To remove it, use Alt + Right click and select "Remove from panel".
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Hagar Delest »

RoryOF wrote:I use Classic Gnome. One can make a shortcut on the toolbar ('Panel') by dragging an item from its Applications menu entry to the tool bar.
It works also with Gnome 3.2 but only if the desktop-integration package has been correctly installed (which was not the case in first post) so that the shortcuts appear in the list of applications.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
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Robert Tucker
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Robert Tucker »

With Gnome you can still install Alacarte to create custom application launchers. (Didn't know if it had escaped anyone's notice.)
LibreOffice 7.x.x on Arch and Fedora.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Problems with Apache OpenOffice and Unity

Post by Hagar Delest »

Yes but there is an additional "layer" on the configuration because it uses custom names for the entries. It is not that easy when you upgrade (I've tried Alacarte once). Better learn the freedesktop.org method and create the shortcuts with proper names (instead of alacarte1, alacarte2, ...).
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
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