OpenOffice.org Built with KDE and GNOME Support 299
ks writes "Novell hacker Jan Holesovsky has released a build of OOo 1.1.3 that integrates with either KDE or GNOME depending on the environment it's running in. The build features KDE/GNOME look and feel, KDE/GNOME file dialogs and the Crystal icons. If you're running NLD, you have this already." Update: 11/27 18:13 GMT by T : Also on the OpenOffice.org front, the OO.o front page links to this interview with Debian ARM developer Peter Naulls, who has ported the suite to ARM processors. Hint: they're everywhere.
I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:5, Informative)
Mirrordot Link (Score:2, Informative)
Re:NLD? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:NLD? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:NLD? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:First Reply| (Score:5, Informative)
NLD (Score:3, Informative)
It's basically Suse with some tweaks, but it's got a very professional look and feel about it with everything nicely integrated.
mirror (Score:3, Informative)
Something similar for Mozilla (Score:4, Informative)
The Mozilla integration project for Linux desktops [polinux.upv.es]
Re:I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:2, Informative)
How does it support things like ppt, doc and xls files?
Rather well. I've read success stories of OO.o flawlessly opening corrupted .doc files that crash Microsoft Word.
Why OpenOffice is important (Score:4, Informative)
Having a drop-in replacement for Office is critical to attacking their core replacement parts business.
Kudos by the way to AbiWord and Gnumeric, two excellent programs that are native GNOME apps today.
Only KDE icons (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is this the real thing? (Score:3, Informative)
Direct Link to Mirrors (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:3, Informative)
everything is great except for video in presentation. It works somehow [debian.org], but does not even correctly open .ppt [debian.org] with video inside, though.
Re:I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:1, Informative)
It was probably formatting problems that caused it to crash/corupt in the first place. The loss is probably what saved the file
Open Office: your MS Office document repair kit. (Score:5, Informative)
Last year, the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival sent the band Saccharine Trust an elaborate Excel spreadsheet which provided an overview of the schedule for the entire weekend's performances at Camber Sands in the UK.
Joe Baiza had Office 98 for Mac running on his iMac. No joy opening the spreadsheet. He then sent the spreadsheet to Chris Stein, the band's bassist, (No, not the Blondie guitarist! Same name, different guy...) who tried to open it in Office XP. Again, no joy.
I get the spreadsheet sent to me. I open it in OO.o. Success! I saved the document first as an OO.o native format file, then resaved the native OO.o file as an
I'll have you know that NOTHING got screwed up in the formatting. Maybe a few weird calculations used by the ATP folks got messed up, but the guys in ST didn't need them. All they needed was the time that ST needed to go on, and also the times for some of the other bands on the schedule the guys wanted to see. OO.o rules.
Re:I've seen it in action, it's pretty sweet (Score:2, Informative)
After you get past that, the compatibility is hit-or-miss. Complex formatting, embedded content such as spreadsheets, and other issues make it hard to guarantee interoperability. I am careful to avoid doing things with documents I share that may make them difficult to work with, but managers and even secretaries can be expected to play with documents in a way that makes them only work in Office.
In short, the idea that Linux and OO is suitable for a work environment where Windows and Office is currently used is difficult to justify. OO is far slower, far less flexible, and will cost all but the smallest companies a fortune to re-train users. I use OO as well as Office and while I like the idea of OO (and I especially like to use it to export to PDF), it is a clunky package when directly compared to Office. Combined with modern Linux desktop systems that trade usability and performance for the sake of "proper" programming techniques, OO provides a dog-slow working environment that you will regret recommending.
I work with some small businesses that have historically balked at paying for software licensing, but the owners prefer to knowingly illegally license Windows/Office than use something else that they are unfamiliar with. However, if they had no predisposed aversion to something other than Office, these particular businesses may be able to get away with OO because they don't do anything complex that requires VBA or a particularly high level of integration. It all comes down to knowing your audience and knowing all of the limitations of the software you are advocating beforehand.
Finally, if you add filetype:doc or filetype:xls or filetype:ppt to a Google search, you can search for files of those formats. Try opening business-oriented documents found with those searches with both Office and OO and see what you find!
Re:Running NLD (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What about OS X? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:My my my... (Score:3, Informative)
Oh, right. I love this comment:
Come on. No one in their right mind would want to type "\section{Text of heading}"! Nothing could be less intuitive!
If this is your alternative to a word processor, 99% of people would do better with a word processor. I mean, really, backslashes and curly braces and magic keywords that have to be memorized? Give me a break. That will never work for the typical user. Programmers, yes, but users, no.
Re:My my my... (Score:3, Informative)
That entire article was written on the basis of the fact that most people incorrectly use word processors! You can do exactly what the author is describing in Microsoft Word, and it is a hell of a lot easier than Tex. As you are typing your document, you simply mark things with Heading 1, etc (create new styles as you need them). When you're done "composing", then edit the styles such that your document is rendered as you want it to be.
As for the argument that the recipient of your document will need to have the same program you composed it in, I fail to see how Tex is better. If I sent my Dad a Tex document, he'd be pissed off that he had to read all of that \section{} crap along with the text, because we both know he isn't going to have anything that will render Tex.
screenshots (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What about OS X? (Score:3, Informative)
Quoting the relevent section
In other words, native OSX is coming but right now all the API's are being rewritten so porting the old ones is a waste of time for the developers. Porting the new ones can't really begin until the API's are finished being designed. It's a pain and it's frustrating. I still recommend NeoOffice/J (http://www.neooffice.org/java/) to my OSX using friends if they don't have access to Word. It's native but still pretty ugly. Just saves on having to install X11.
-Brian