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[Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 12:57 pm
by swolf154
I just signed on as a new volunteer with Open Office. I would like to know what the difference is between OpenOffice and LibreOffice? I'd like to get involved with the documentation team but noticed the wiki hasn't been updated since 2013. I know Apache is a great outfit but why two different versions of the software? If I write documentation for OpenOffice does it also get used with LibreOffice? WIll OO be supported in say 10 years?

Dazed and Confused

Steve

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:54 pm
by Villeroy
If you are running one of the popular Linux distribution, you have LibreOffice already installed or you can install it semi-automatically from the repositories. And that's it. Both programs produce ODF documents. LibreOffice has a stronger focus on import and export of foreign file formats which is a good thing for Linux users. In any case you must not expect that any office suite can support Microsoft files formats perfectly well.
If working with MS documents is a must-have, http://www.softmaker.com/english/of_en.htm is a better choice. This product is built around MS Office document formats.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:28 pm
by kingfisher
LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice before OpenOffice was passed on to the Apache foundation. I used it for a few months but I had several problems with it after updating to the first version in the 4.3 series it. Other factors in my decision to to make the change were :
1 I could not install the MRI extension from the LO extensions site ; I was able to install the version on the Apache site but it didn't work as well as it did on OO (and does on AOO).
2 If I wanted to look anything up (particularly on the API site) I found I had to look it up on the Apache site because the LO sites are incomplete.
3 User support is nowhere near as good.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:31 pm
by fred8615
Another difference (and why I prefer OO) is that LO forces you to install everything, whether you need/use it or not. With OO I can install just Writer, Calc, and Draw (which I only need for PDFs).

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 3:13 pm
by esperantisto
swolf154 wrote:If I write documentation for OpenOffice does it also get used with LibreOffice?
Yes for 99% of cases. However, LO uses a modified version of the ODF format, thus, there can be minor differences. Also, there are some differences in handling extensions.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 3:16 pm
by esperantisto
fred8615 wrote:Another difference (and why I prefer OO) is that LO forces you to install everything …
I don’t see any difference in the installation procedures for AOO and LO. Except for one: LO for M$ Windows comes with all GUI languages (selectable during installation), while AOO comes localized only to one requiring language packs for any other.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:37 pm
by fred8615
esperantisto wrote:I don’t see any difference in the installation procedures for AOO and LO. Except for one: LO for M$ Windows comes with all GUI languages (selectable during installation), while AOO comes localized only to one requiring language packs for any other.
I've never seen an option to unselect components when installing LO. If it did have that, I'd probably be using LO. Unless they just recently added it, I don't think they give you a choice.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:45 pm
by Villeroy
Deselecting any of the main components makes no sense. Apart from a tiny amount of free disk space you don't get any advantage. But on this forum there are some complaints about non-obvious limitations due to missing components.
LibreOffice comes with most of the popular Linux distributions in packages. Ubuntu does not install the Base component by default which leads to the consequence that you can not create serial letters, labels nor bibliographies.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:17 am
by fred8615
Villeroy wrote:Deselecting any of the main components makes no sense. Apart from a tiny amount of free disk space you don't get any advantage.
Except it's my hard drive, and I don't want anything that I'm never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to use just sitting there taking up space. At least not while there is a viable alternative, like OO.

And FTR, I just tried installing Liberoffice again, and it still insists on installing Impress, Math, and Base, which I don't need or want. :crazy:

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:24 am
by Villeroy
fred8615 wrote: I don't want anything that I'm never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to use just sitting there taking up space.
Well, you are running Windows ... which is an awsome waste of system resources.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:34 am
by dreamquartz
fred8615 wrote:Another difference (and why I prefer OO) is that LO forces you to install everything, whether you need/use it or not. With OO I can install just Writer, Calc, and Draw (which I only need for PDFs).
That is not completely true.

If you are using Ubuntu, you can download the separate files via Ubuntu Software Centre.

Dream

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:50 am
by fred8615
dreamquartz wrote:
fred8615 wrote:Another difference (and why I prefer OO) is that LO forces you to install everything, whether you need/use it or not. With OO I can install just Writer, Calc, and Draw (which I only need for PDFs).
That is not completely true.

If you are using Ubuntu, you can download the separate files via Ubuntu Software Centre.
Look in my sig area. I'm using Windows 8.1, not any form of Linux. So that doesn't apply to me.

Re: OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:50 am
by LeroyTennison
What I have seen between the two variants is that LibreOffice has more features: both "documented" (true features) and undocumented (bugs). There was a point in time when OpenOffice suffered due to developer departure as a result of politics, I don't know the current situation. Now, when I say "more features", I don't mean a lot more major features with possibly a couple of exceptions. The reason I prefer OpenOffice is that I got tired of the bugs I found in LibreOffice. Neither variant is bug-free but it seems the AOO developers are somewhat more disciplined in their approach than the LibreOffice developers.

Another difference between the variants is the license. The Apache license apparently doesn't demand as much openness as the LibreOffice license which is a source of displeasure with some people.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:54 pm
by jan127
Libreoffice is a good choice for beginners and those who like to use Ubuntu

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:56 pm
by Villeroy
jan127 wrote:Libreoffice is a good choice for beginners and those who like to use Ubuntu
So OpenOffice is for "advanced users" or what?

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:44 pm
by Zizi64
fred8615 :
esperantisto wrote:I don’t see any difference in the installation procedures for AOO and LO. Except for one: LO for M$ Windows comes with all GUI languages (selectable during installation), while AOO comes localized only to one requiring language packs for any other.
I've never seen an option to unselect components when installing LO. If it did have that, I'd probably be using LO. Unless they just recently added it, I don't think they give you a choice.
At the begining of the installation procedure you can choose "Custom" option: if you choose that, then you can select the desired language tools (UI, dictionaries, other features, etc.)
But you can not unselect the applications in LibreOffice: all of the applications (Writer, Calc, Base, Draw, Impress, and Equation editor) will installed.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:50 pm
by fred8615
Zizi64 wrote:
At the begining of the installation procedure you can choose "Custom" option: if you choose that, then you can select the desired language tools (UI, dictianaries, other features, etc.)
I've tried that. Yes the Windows version gives you those choices, but not the choice of only installing Writer, Calc, and Draw, which is all I need or want.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 6:34 am
by thomasjk
There is very little savings in disk space by not installing all the components.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 9:51 am
by Zizi64
There is very little savings in disk space by not installing all the components.
...because the Calc uses some Draw functions (drawing shapes on a graphical layer of Worksheet, etc...),
...and the Draw uses some functions of the Writer (text align, etc...)
...and the Writer uses some Base function (for mail Merge - for example)...
...and the Base can use a Calc table as data source...
...and... I can list similar "relation things"...

There are COMMON functions: they placed into a "Core application" (together with more common options). The separated files of the various applications contain only the app. specific things. That "Core application" you MUST install in any event, and it occupies most of the HDD space.

(Maybe it is a very simplified approach, but... ;) )

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 6:42 pm
by Villeroy
The components are not different programs. It is one program which handles several types of documents. Open a text, a spreadsheet, a drawing, a presentation,a database and the Windows process manager. All documents are handled by the same process "soffice.exe".
Leaving out any of the components asks for all kinds of trouble without giving any advantage.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:37 pm
by darkcity
I recommend reading the respective Wikipedia entries to understand the differences,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OpenOffice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice

The split was partially due to Oracle's take over on Sun in January 2010. Also, there was frustration of the cide approval process of OOo being slow, hence there was Go-OO.

Unfortunately it looks as though the projects will grow apart, but hopefully both will continue to have good support for open formats.

Re: [Solved] OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:48 am
by esperantisto
darkcity wrote:it looks as though the projects will grow apart
Not really. For example, the side panel was originally developed in AOO and then ported to LO. Hopefully, the developers of both projects will continue interacting (I’d be happy to see the export filter for Micro$oft’s X-d formats ported from LO to AOO).