Cross Platfrom Support Question

users
#1

Folks,

There are a group of us who need to use LibreOffice, however, we do not all use the same type of hardware.

One of our members uses an iPad. When she tried to download 4.x from the website she received a message that said:

"there were no regular installation files available and to make another selection"

She is running MAC OSX How should she proceed?

We can't afford to purchase new hardware, yet we need to be able to share the information and to maintain it as well.

I am on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and am a happy camper.

Thanks,
Jay

#2

iPads do not use OS X, they use iOS, a different operating system for mobile devices. Does she have any other computer?

I know of no solution at the moment.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Is there a different program that can edit ODFs on iPads and such?

I guess the obvious one is Google Docs which i think is now part of Google
Drive. Are there others?

Also is the reason there isn't an iOS version just down to needing someone
to do a "build" or "make" or "compile", or whatever, or is there a technical
reason why LO won't work on iOS yet?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

​My 2cent:

The framework used on "regular" systems (like gtk) are completely different
than the one used on mobile devices, both iOS and Android. Although some
framework tries to reduce the gap (I'm thin​​king about Qt), last time I
checked LO sources it was not designed this way.

It's not a matter of "just" rebuilding, it would need a lot of work, first
redesigning the UI to work with mobile device (both having something
adapted to touch interface AND built using framework for mobile OS), and
moving the codebase (or rewriting from scratch) for objective C (the
language used for the iOS SDK).

Even funnier, an Android port would be easier to do if LO was still in Java
(insert laughters here :slight_smile: )

tl;dr: having an iOS version of Libreoffice pretty much mean redoing
everything (in my opinion)

Of course, this doesn't answer the question of app available today for
editing ODF files on mobile devices in general... seeing that even google
drive (at least on Android) feels clunky, I would advise against doing real
work on tablets...

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahhh, that explains a lot.  I think there is some work-in-progress for an Android version but ii think it needs more devs working on it.  Not sure about an iOS version.  I was wondering if there was some quick work-around that might get a result more quickly but it's fairly clear there isn't.

I assume that mobile devices are too low spec to have much chance of running a "Virtual Machine" on even to install a VERY light-weight distro such as SliTaz (30 Mb) or Puppy or DSL or TinyCore or something?  I managed to get LibreOffice working in SliTaz on a full desktop machine but didn't try any of the others.

So we really need to find an ODF viewer for the iOS and hope that's enough?  With Google-docs being just for 'emergencies'.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

To those who responded,

I guess the bottom line is that currently LibreOfffice does not and will not without a LOT of work support mobile devices.

I am not a mobile user, so I have no frame of reference. It does appear that this feature (mobility) will be required at some future point, however.

Thanks,
Jay

#7

What kind of masochist would wish to do any serious writing--the kind
that would require a word-processor--on a mobile phone, or a
touch-screen tablet? Get real!

--doug

#8

I don't own an iPad, but check these sites out...

http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-ooo-dev/201205.mbox/<4FB06079.2060700@apache.org>

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/documents-unlimited-free-for/id633646265?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/open-word-processor-document/id523501455?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/documents-free-mobile-office/id306273816?mt=8

forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?t=61238

www.alwaysonpc.com/aboutOpenOffice.php

www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/36175-editing-open-office-writer-calc-files.html

appfinder.lisisoft.com/ipad-iphone-apps/openoffice-odt.html

https://www.rollapp.com/openoffice

I know nothing about any of these products. May purchase an iPad-mini in the future, but it's competing with the Google Nexus 7 at the moment.

#9

In data sabato 24 agosto 2013 21:40:14, Doug ha scritto:

> To those who responded,
>
> I guess the bottom line is that currently LibreOfffice does not and will
> not without a LOT of work support mobile devices.
>
> I am not a mobile user, so I have no frame of reference. It does appear
> that this feature (mobility) will be required at some future point,
> however.
>
>
> Thanks,
> Jay

What kind of masochist would wish to do any serious writing--the kind
that would require a word-processor--on a mobile phone, or a
touch-screen tablet? Get real!

Well, maybe not in a phone, but a 10" tablet is suitable enough to work with
office stuff.

Maybe the important point is to re-think the way the commands have to be
available to the user, fine-tuned for touch screens: drag&drop, automatic
context menu and so on.

For example, a simply way could be a setup wizard (always available) to
customized the various context menus resulting by the context.

Ciao

#10

you can add a small bluetooth keyboard.

some come in a kind of sleeve where you can fold the keyboard and the 10" tablet together held by velcro; you unfold it and the tablet is propped up and the keyboard laid out flat. folded up, it all fits into a woman's purse or a small satchel. the keyboard is pretty easy to use for normal-sized hands and fingers.

opposite of masochism.

not my taste though - I prefer more power and gear - but perfectly understandable setup for many use-cases.

F.

#11

Hi Jay,

"there were no regular installation files available and to make another
selection"

She is running MAC OSX How should she proceed?

There is currently no fully functional mobile version of LibreOffice
available for Android or iOS touchscreen devices. There are ports being
developed for both Android and iOS (iPad) to allow at least reading of
ODF documents, but these represent a significant amount of work and the
project is still quite a way off releasing something that will be
publicly acceptable.

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/GSoC/Ideas#Experimental_LibreOffice_app_for_iOS

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/LibreOffice_on_Android

In the meantime, if your colleague wants to just be able to read ODF
files on her iPad, she could try this :

https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/ibm-lotus-symphony-viewer/id482597218?mt=8

Symphony also exists as an ODF reader app for Android.

The Symphony app also allows synching :

http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=46073

Alex

#12

Hi :slight_smile:
I just had a glimpse of an Android and it looks like it's got a
mini-Usb socket in the top.  If that could break-out to a powered
usb-hub then surely you could get keyboard, mice, maybe even screens working off the Android?

So 1 docking station at work and 1 at home might be enough to do emailing and more serious stuff there and still be able to keep an eye on things when travelling around or out?

Or is Android just not yet set-up to do this sort of thing?

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#13

Sounds like the Ubuntu Edge:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge

#14

Tom Davies wrote:

I just had a glimpse of an Android and it looks like it's got a
mini-Usb socket in the top. If that could break-out to a powered
usb-hub then surely you could get keyboard, mice, maybe even screens working off the Android?

So 1 docking station at work and 1 at home might be enough to do emailing and more serious stuff there and still be able to keep an eye on things when travelling around or out?

Or is Android just not yet set-up to do this sort of thing?

Every mobile device is required to have a USB connection for power. It
doesn't have to be used for anything else but generally is. I don't
know about keyboards though. However, keyboards are supported via Blutooth.

#15

Motorola's phones have docks to connect any keyword and mouse, even an HDMI
television. When docked you have a Desktop very similar to GNOME. First
Atrix had a dock shipped with the devise and can use LAPTOP like dock. New
models require to buy docks separately.

With this kind if devices and a LibreOffice version for it you can have all
the power you need for basic work station.

#16

Hi :slight_smile:
Wow!!  I had no idea!  I had assumed that every company still made it's own proprietary charger that would be the only thing able to charge it's devices.  I managed to get a camera that has a fairly unique mini-usb but most seem to have a very standard one.  
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: