[Solved] LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Which one to use?

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pizzipie
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[Solved] LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Which one to use?

Post by pizzipie »

Hi,

Using Ubuntu for years. Now I'm using v. 14.04.

I quite happily used OpenOffice a number of years ago. Then, to my disappointment, OpenOffice was gone and LibreOffice popped up,. Now I see from trying to use Base with LibreOffice I am directed to the Apache OpenOffice site. I don't care which application I use, but I want to use Base to access my MySql Databases and to write reports. I have openoffice-tar/Apache_OpenOffice_4.1.1_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz downloaded and ready to install. I am a little afraid to try this as I've got LibreOffice operating and am able to use Base with the report function. These programs seem tricky to get running correctly.

Any advantage to switch back to OpenOffice? Does the Oracle Report Writer extension work in LibreOffice?

I would appreciate any help in enlightening me.

R
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Sat Jul 25, 2015 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RoryOF
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by RoryOF »

If LibreOffice is installed and working I doubt there is anything to be gained by changing to OpenOffice. Because of the common code base the
functionality is largely the same and you should be able to apply OO methods to LibO with minimal or no changes.
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pizzipie
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by pizzipie »

Thanks RoryOF,

So should I use Oracle Report Writer extension in LibO?

R
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RoryOF
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by RoryOF »

I don't use databases, so someone with experience will have to answer that specific point.
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Villeroy
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by Villeroy »

Recent versions of LibreOffice include the report builder as built-in component. It is not a removeable add-on anymore. Old style reports are still opened but there is no way to create them. I rarely use the report builder (too complicated for my needs). I prefer quick reports and pivot tables on spreadsheets: [Tutorial] Using registered datasources in Calc.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by Villeroy »

If you want to have use both programs on a Linux system, the LibreOffice from the Ubuntu repository and OpenOffice, you need to install OpenOffice with the --force-overwrite switch. It will replace the symlink /usr/bin/soffice pointing to the LO executable with a symlink that points to the OpenOffice executable. Of course you can change the symlink manually but without using the switch, there is a conflict and OpenOffice won't be installed.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by RoryOF »

To be frank, I think one is probably as good as the other, at least until one starts doing very complex things (if one ever does), when one might be preferable for convenience for that complexity. I think the OP should use his installed LibreOffice until it doesn't do what he wants. Time then to consider whether to change.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by Villeroy »

RoryOF wrote:To be frank, I think one is probably as good as the other, at least until one starts doing very complex things (if one ever does), when one might be preferable for convenience for that complexity. I think the OP should use his installed LibreOffice until it doesn't do what he wants. Time then to consider whether to change.
+1

LO tries harder to support foreign file formats. The results are not always satisfying. Too many new LO features are not well thought and/or badly implemented. On the other hand Apache OpenOffice seems to be stable in terms of no longer pushed forward.
The one and only matter of importance full ODF support.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by pizzipie »

Thank you Villeroy,

I may be having a brain fart but; The one and only matter of importance full ODF support. what is ODF.

Do you think Apache OpenOffice will stay around now? It seems to have more support, or am I wrong?

R
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by RoryOF »

OpenOffice will stay around, I think. Hopefully the division between OO and LibO will be healed in the future.

ODF format means Open Document Format and is hopefully the format towards which many government departments and International organisations are moving. Although Microsoft claims to support these formats, its versions of the formats are very idiosyncratic and may not conform to the standard.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by pizzipie »

[SOLVED] :D

Thank you RoryOf and all others.

Guess I'll stick with LO for now.

R
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by esperantisto »

RoryOF wrote:To be frank, I think one is probably as good as the other…
No. Apache OpenOffice is much more stable, especially when handling large files (both text and spreadsheets). I need to process a bunch of files that have lots of linked pictures inside and LO immediately crashes when trying to load such a file while AOO does not. In LO Calc, I can’t properly set a language for cell text: it seems to set, but the spellcheck still underlines everything as mistakes (no matter what language). No problem with AOO Calc. LO seems to have a broken StarBasic engine, and some extensions do not work (notably, Template Changer, a very useful Writer extension).

In short, when stability is critical, I use AOO. Actually, I use AOO for everything except the cases when I need better compatibility of text documents with M$ Office Word (in fact, the compatibility is better with LO only for page numbering, other things are largely equally good or equally bad in both AOO and LO).
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by RoryOF »

I was thinking in terms of use of the suites by an inexperienced user, at the level such a user might require.

I only use OpenOffice; my main use is for writing and editing - in the latter case some very large files. It is extremely stable, but that may reflect the stability of my operating system. I have looked (briefly) at LibreOffice but disliked some changes in the appearance of the editing screens. Reports are also that LibO is slightly less stable than OO, so I have no incentive to change. MS Office compatibility does not concern me as I handle any printing myself.
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Re: LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Confused as to which one to

Post by pizzipie »

Thanks, esperantisto and RoryOF,

I thought I was done with this but... You've got me thinking again (always dangerous).

I use OO and/or LO for all my spreadsheets and document writing. My present interest is in accessing MySql for the purpose of writing reports.

I don't know why, but my gut feeling is that it might be best if I went with OO using Base and with the Oracle Report Writer extension.

I started with Star Office so have some experience with all three of these applications. I am far far from an expert but have managed to get them all running at one time or another.

SOOOO! Give me a push in one direction or the other.

Thanks,

R
Libre Office Version: 6.0.7.3
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pizzipie
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Re: [Solved] LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Which one to use?

Post by pizzipie »

Well I jumped in and almost drowned!!!

Purged LibreOffice installed OpenOffice. Open Office crashes every other minute so I purged it and back to LibreOffice.

I'm going to post results and questions inanother forum on that.

So thanks all, R
Libre Office Version: 6.0.7.3
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Re: [Solved] LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Which one to use?

Post by pizzipie »

Last reply, I promise.

Couldn't get report writer, in the Ubuntu version of LO, to use design mode. Dumped it and downloaded LibreOffice 4.4.4.3 and CHEERS, It all works.

I'm done, staying with current installation of LO.

BYE!!!

R
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Re: [Solved] LibreOffice - OpenOffice - Which one to use?

Post by RusselB »

I'd like to recommend that you update your forum signature to reflect which office product and which version you are using.
You can do this by clicking on the User Control Panel link located near the top left of the page.
OpenOffice 4.1.7, LibreOffice 7.0.1.2 on Windows 7 Pro, Ultimate & Windows 10 Home (2004)
If you believe your problem has been resolved, please go to your first post in this topic, click the Edit button and add [Solved] to the beginning of the Subject line.
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