"The Document Foundation announces LibreOffice 4.0, the free office suite the community has been dreaming of since 2001. LibreOffice 4.0 is the first release that reflects the objectives set by the community at the time of the announcement, in September 2010: a cleaner and leaner code base, an improved set of features, better interoperability, and a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem."
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Member since:
2005-11-13
1. Have they gotten rid of the Java dependencies I remember from older versions of OpenOffice? I don't think most people want to install Java unless they absolutely have to, esp with all the vulnerabilities I've seen reported on the tech news blogs. On the other hand, I don't remember which parts of OO required Java; the database app did IRIC.
2. Speaking of OpenOffice, what has become of that project? Is it gonna fizzle out like a bad fart, as Mozilla did whenever Firefox took off?
Edited 2013-02-07 21:34 UTC
Member since:2006-02-15
Not as far as I know. I sure hope they would, however, as I don't want Java on any of my machines.
EDIT: Their website does state "For certain features of the software - but not most - Java is required. Java is notably required for Base."
Edited 2013-02-07 21:37 UTC
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WorknMan,
"I don't think most people want to install Java unless they absolutely have to, esp with all the vulnerabilities I've seen reported on the tech news blogs."
I don't think that's really fair.
Most of the security vulnerabilities I've seen are only applicable to contexts in which the virtual machine is intentionally running buggy and untrusted code, such as in applets. All too often java's security is compared to languages which have no containment security whatsoever, like C. In other words, java code needs a privilege escalation to reach the same level of security that a C program starts out with.
In the context of a program we intentionally download and trust implicitly, I'd be surprised if anyone could make a strong case against the security of Java programs compared to C, although I welcome information to the contrary.
Member since:2009-05-19
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The sole purpose of Java hook in Open/Office is to assure *compatibility with MS Office crappy file formats*.
So yeah, when it comes to me, it can be erased from the package.
Anyway, LibreOffice is incredibly good and I never treated it as an "alternative" to anything else. Instead, Open/LibreOffice was always my primary choice, others didn't even have a potential to become valuable alternatives.
Member since:2009-08-05
Member since:2005-11-07
Getting rid of Java is a goal but I think they wanted to clean up the code before they focused their efforts on eliminating Java. I think we will see Java become an option in the 4.x series.
Member since:2005-11-10
They are working on it, but they are not finished.
OpenOffice.org is now an Apache project. People are working on it, but to be fair the really cool stuff is happening on LibreOffice. And LibreOffice can pick up the new stuff that might be in Apache OpenOffice.org, because the license allows it.
Member since:
2006-02-06
My favourite new feature? Support for Firefox Personas. Now your office program can have crappy low-res anime stills in its toolbar, just like your browser! I really hope that was a personal scratched itch, rather than time/effort put in by a core developer!
Actually, my favourite feature is Unity app menu support. That'll make it look less like a sore thumb in the Ubuntu world.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Yes, I know, you're going to scream "use your standard repos to install LibreOffice", but I run CentOS 6 at home and work and the chances of it releasing LO 4 any time soon are pretty remote.
Has anyone actually looked at how LibreOffice is "officially" packaged on the libreoffice.org site for Linux? It's terrible! Over 50 RPMs bundled across up to 3 .tar.gz downloads with apparently non-US users having to download the en-US version, delete all the en-US RPMs, delete the Spanish and French dictionary RPMs, then download two other packages (help and language packs) for their own language.
It gets worse - the morons at LibreOffice have different install trees for even minor point releases (e.g. /opt/openoffice3.5 vs. /opt/openoffice3.6) and then even more stupidly hard-code the version number into the package name (e.g. libreoffice3.6, libreoffice4.0 etc) which is 100% wrong and means you have to manually uninstall the old RPMs (rpm -e them) before installing the updated version - arrgh!
Yes, I know the version thing lets you install 2 versions at once, but who other than developers will *ever* do that? What's annoying is that the devs that might need to do that have their *own* Lodev RPMs with the dual-install capability. And switching versions isn't hard - remove old RPMs, install new ones or vice versa. No need for both to be installed at once for a typical user.
Worst...RPM...packaging...ever...
Edited 2013-02-07 22:29 UTC
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Yes, you should!
I actually prefer the Mac way where every app is self contained. Duplicity of "shared-libraries" exists but such duplicity solves the versioning DLL hell.
PC-BSD's PBI installers work in this way too; easier to install, remove, deploy, etc.
Edited 2013-02-08 17:09 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-08-17
Blame "The Unix Way" mentality for the poor packaging/distribution on Linux.
That's not correct. Windows packaging is terrible. No tracking of shared dependencies. Poor tracking of installed files. Installing application B can overwrite files installed by Application A.
No easy upgrade paths unless programmed by the packager...
Need I go on?
On linux, a package can be installed with a single command that my grandma can type. easily upgradable packages, tracking of shared dependencies, excellent tracking of installed files. Package managers also warn and/or block two packages from installing the same file in the same location.
The main reason why I dropped windows in 2004 IS the software installation/packaging hell.
Member since:2011-08-13
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http://www.osnews.com/thread?552026
(Saves me the need to write things twice)
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2009-03-27
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2005-07-12
WISH they'd ditch the stupid malfing java dependencies; something that should have been on the list from the moment Oracle pissed off every last real developer working on OoO...
BUT... whenever I hear phrasing like "diverse and inclusive ecosystem" I have to fight the overwhelming urge to vomit. Dirty huffing granola feel good nonsense at it's worst.
You'd almost thing the FSF or Goebbels was involved in the market-speak writing on said blog -- Given that within the first three paragraphs I'm seeing bandwagon, transfer, and of course the ever so popular glittering generalities...
But still it's a great release of a great program -- especially since at least on Windows and OSX it doesn't kern text like a sweetly retarded crack addict anymore. (Though thanks to freetype being useless crap, don't expect any progress on linsux in that department).
Member since:2005-07-12
I stand corrected, it still kerns text at a lot of sizes like a sweetly retarded crack addict -- that it cannot space glyphs on any platform consistently for the same word is just... bad. Is it really so hard to kern a word the same every time and then put any overflow/adjustment in the whitespace?
http://www.cutcodedown.com/images/libreOfficeStillKernsLikeCrap.png
Shamefully bad.
Member since:
2005-07-08
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LaTeX is too bloated/verbose... I suggest Lout instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lout_%28software%29
Edited 2013-02-08 13:42 UTC
Member since:
2006-06-24
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2007-11-23
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1) it's gratis.
2) at least it's somewhat less than 10x slower than Office 2000.
3) it does keming better than I can do by hand.
4) it usually doesn't crash when importing office documents.
5) it only sometimes hangs on copy/paste operations.
6) at least it's document formats are kinda sorta somewhat standardized (pay no attention to the ramblings of Morten Welinder!)
7) it can finally do first-page-special header/footers!
...only three to go, but I couldn't come up with more 
Member since:2005-07-06
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Your #2 really drives home a point too - since just what the blue blazes is LibreOffice, OoO and even the latest iterations of Microsoft Office doing on startup that say... Office 97 or 2000 doesn't? Or is even needed?
It's really sad to be rocking a quad core 3ghz hyperthreaded system with 16 gigs of RAM, only to have a 'modern' office suite that does NOTHING I find useful or better end up taking longer to start and be harder to use than StarOffice, Lotus Smartsuite or Microsoft Office was on Windows 98 a decade and a half ago on a crappy K6/2-450 with only 64 megs of RAM... and at least those versions offered improvements over their predecessors -- today the new 'functionality' is usually stupid garbage like dicking with toolbar arrangement and skins.
Yeah... I'm digging out my Office 97 disk... just have to remember that it screws with UAC on Win7.
Member since:2011-01-28
deathshadow,
"and at least those versions offered improvements over their predecessors -- today the new 'functionality' is usually stupid garbage like dicking with toolbar arrangement and skins."
Yep, often times things change for the sake of change rather than for the sake of improvement.
"Yeah... I'm digging out my Office 97 disk... just have to remember that it screws with UAC on Win7."
I happily used office 97 for a long time, nothing newer offered a compelling reason to upgrade. This was probably true for virtually all MSOffice users, but of course it always came down to compatibility problems forcing everyone to upgrade together.
Edit: As I recall, it was the last version of office which could be backed up and reinstalled by copying it's program files and wasn't dependent on an installer or the registry. Windows software maintenance was better in those days.
Edited 2013-02-09 07:04 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
1. It works the same in both Windows in Linux (so both me and my Windows-using co-workers can use it).
2. Its free (as in speech).
3. It does 100% of all things I need. (Most likely 200%)
4. It works just fine on my 8 year old laptop (running F18/i686).
5. It has a simple and predicable interface (God I hate the ribbon interface).
6. It has zero issues with BIDI + English in the same sentence. (For some absurd reasons Office 2K10 spell checker really dislike complex sentences).
7. In most cases, I can cooperate with Office 2K7/10 users without issues (mostly @work).
8. Unlike OO, I can see measurable improvement between each release.
9. Unlike MSO, I can actually report bugs (whenever I see one) and have some type of dialog with the developer as opposed to shaking my fist against the sky and cursing.
10. Being free, I don't have to pay 10 times the price just to avoid getting a limited "Home" edition.
- Gilboa
Member since:
2007-02-17
LibreOffice releases new, faster version
http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/58655-libreoffic...
A little more than two years after it forked from OpenOffice.org, the free office suite LibreOffice has come out with a sleek and faster version 4.0. The release said the resulting codebase differed from the original, as several million lines of code had been added and removed, by adding new features, fixing bugs and regressions, adopting state of the art C++ constructs, replacing tools, getting rid of deprecated methods and obsoleted libraries, and translating 25,000 lines of comments from German to English.
LibreOffice Gets A Brand New Home
http://www.muktware.com/5198/libreoffice-gets-brand-new-home
LibreOffice team is on 'fire'. After releasing 4.0 which is a 'completely' different office suite than OpenOffice. The team has revamped the LibreOffice.org, bidding goodbye to the 'boring' and aged design. The new design is jazzy and reflects how aggressive the 'new' LibreOffice community is, shedding the old brand image it inherited from the doomed OpenOffice.
LibreOffice is experiencing a huge adoption across organizations and enterprises. There were reports that Microsoft is planning to port its cash cow MS Office to Linux - if the reports are true it clearly shows that LO is making some serious inroads into Microsoft's core segment and scared Microsoft is now bringing its product to the platform where everyone else is going.
Microsoft goes soft on Office, to debut Linux version by 2014
http://www.unixmen.com/microsoft-goes-soft-on-office-to-debut-linux...
Looks like Linux has finally challenged the dominance of decades of proprietary office document software.
As the market share of Android devices continues to make an impact Microsoft has already announced its Android port for Office Suite, their proprietary office documents management software.
Analysts firmly believe that the explosive growth of Linux on desktop, primarily driven by commercial gaming software, has driven the software giant to finally look towards open source compatibility.
This hugely interesting news grew viral at the Brussels, Belgium developers’ European meeting for open source (FOSDEM) in the last few days.
Typical open source ingenuity already offers technical solutions to run Office software on Linux through Wine, which is very popular in this segment, or the CodeWeavers’ CrossOver. However, these are ports and not a full native client. Now, Microsoft itself has initiated an internal porting for Linux.
However, another major development on the Linux front has been the increase in the growth of governments implementing Linux. Most organizations, in several countries have found great cost advantages in using LibreOffice and OpenOffice over Windows Word.
As the volumes in number of users in the segment of organizations and governments for office software products grows, Microsoft is left without an option but to venture into the realms, it had vouched a long time ago not to enter.
Edited 2013-02-10 02:37 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
(so it seems is less German now... ;p http://www.osnews.com/permalink?552002 )
Edited 2013-02-10 14:00 UTC