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I shall have to check also. I'll send to some students as guinea pigs.
one thing I've observed is that in spite of being a (partly) Linux company, google-drive does not treat .odt files kindly: it seems to list the unzipped contents instead of showing properly formatted text.
the school uses google-apps for education, specially designed for use in schools (more privacy, closed environment).
f.
This is intriguing. I just looked over my options with LO 6.0.3 in
saving as a PDF and I don't easily see any method of saving as a
"fillable PDF form." Can you give a quick explanation of how to do that?
Like Tom, I've always thought of PDF as a generally non-editable format,
although I have used fillable PDF forms before. I've just never known
how to create a fillable PDF. Can it be done from within LO?
Virgil
My understanding is that it's a feature pretty much only covered by Adobe software. That includes filling out a form.
Things may have changed since I last checked.
That was my thinking as well, which is why I'm intrigued by the
possibility of doing it directly within LO.
Virgil
I was only responding to the suggestion that the problem you were trying
to solve -- how to default to an MSO format -- was misdirected, when the
"real problem" was that schools use MSO rather than LO. When all I need
to do is get a final exam to my students in the next two days, I don't
have time for FOSS crusades.
I recall back in the day, the mantra of IT managers was that, nobody
ever got fired for buying IBM. I suspect a similar attitude exists today
with MSO.
I remember many, many years ago when the government office where I
worked switched from WordPerfect to MS Word. The outcry from the
proficient WordPerfect users was deafening.
I can only imagine the mutiny that might result if a major institution
announced that it was switching all of its computers from the familiar
MSO to LibreOffice. Now, I love LO as much as the next FOSS user, but
that love has come from constant use since the days when it was
StarOffice. I have invested the time to learn the program and customize
it for my use with styles, templates, etc. I wouldn't fault an MSO user
from feeling completely ambushed if his employer were to declare that he
had to switch to LO.
Virgil
When you create a Writer document with fillable fields, the resulting
PDF supports having these fields edited. I just tried this with LO
6.0.3 and Evince (Linux). I suspect the same will apply to Acrobat
Reader.
Rémy.
Hi 
Switching is painful. It's the MS way.
It's difficult to have 2 versions of MSO running on one system - but it's
easy to install LibreOffice alongside MS Office.
So it's easier to migrate gradually, at your own pace, from MS Office to
LibreOffice. You are not forced to lose access to the system you are
familiar with when moving to a FOSS system.
Regards from
a Tom
Hi
That sounds interesting! How do you create a "fillable field"? I know
about hybrid Pdfs but fillable fields sounds like something that could be
used outside of LO.
Regards from
a Tom
To make a PDF from LO.
Export as PDF.
And in the bad/good old days when I used an MS operating system and was
proof reading scripts that came as PDF's, I used one of Nuance's programs
to edit and annotate the proofs
Incidentally, I have been using LInux and LO for years and regularly needed to
use MS Word in replies to the members of a craft group I have been assisting.
No problems even though LO chides me for using an MS format and warns about
errors.
Gordon.
Of course you're right from a technological standpoint, but in our situation, the IT staff came in over the weekend and literally deleted WordPerfect from everyones' computers, along with all our macros, etc. and installed MSO. We all arrived on Monday to a big surprise. One secretary was so angry she left and didn't come back for several days.
So, there's technological forcing and then there's political forcing.
Virgil
Hi
True.
I think it is important for us to keep raising awareness of "migration
rather than switching" or "evolution rather than revolution".
To be fair to that sort of technical 'support' they have to just follow
orders and they don't want to get caught in a scenario where they are
trying to maintain and support 2 different systems.
On the other hand just leaving MS Office on a system is easier than
removing it and it will crumble away on it's own. It is a security risk
and will have it's own wobbly moments but those will encourage people to
move increasingly to the better, newer system.
Also i think we have a duty to resist "just following orders" although that
is not always possible. I've heard many stories of tech-support people
quietly letting a machine's user know how to access something they
shouldn't and asking them to keep it quiet. I've used the "oops i forgot"
excuse a few times but that rarely works out well.
I've generally found tech support to be arogant a*$3h0l3s until i started
meeting people who also support non-MS systems.
Regards from
a Tom
Hi
Thanks :))
Regards from
a Tom
Okay, I've done some digging to find out how to create fillable PDF
forms in LO. I found the below website that explains it somewhat.
https://www.maketecheasier.com/create-a-pdf-with-fillable-forms-in-libreoffice/
I've tried it and it works fairly well. I'm still learning some of the
nuances. I'll test it on various systems and I may use it for my current
exam. I like the idea of using PDF instead of .DOC, and I think it may
even be nicer for my students.
I love learning new things that LO can do that I had never thought possible.
Virgil
Government agencies make great targets for ADA &Section 508 lawsuits,
because they have deep pockets. Since PDF is not an accessible file
format, that fill-able PDF form means that a student with an a11y can,
and since they are probably broke, will sue the college for Section
508/ADA violations. (For individuals with a11y issues, filing ADA
lawsuits is a great source of income. One lawsuit a month. One
settlement per month, US$5,000 per month, tax free. Great way to
supplement one's disability check.)
IOW, fill-able PDF is an extremely bad idea.
jonathon
Is it worth US$5,000 plus court costs plus attorney fees, to do
something that is a known Section 508/ADA violation?
I am not a lawyer.
This is not legal advice.
jonathon
I am a retired lawyer, but I've not heard of this issue.
Can you explain why PDF is not accessible for ADA purposes? I don't understand how a file format can impact a person's disabilities.
Virgil
Can you explain why PDF is not accessible for ADA purposes?
A PDF can consist of either text, or images, or a combination of the
two. Screen readers can't read images.
Provided your PDF is text only, it is accessible. If it has any images,
or if it gets converted to images, it fails ADA requirements.
Screen readers don't show where, or how to fill in the blank spaces in a
fill-able PDF, and hence are not a11y.
don't understand how a file format can impact a person's disabilities.
Consider the difference between audio captioning, closed captioning and
open captioning.
jonathon
I am a retired lawyer, but I've not heard of this issue.
Can you explain why PDF is not accessible for ADA purposes? I don't understand how a file format can impact a person's disabilities.
Virgil
Thank you for the info. I'll have to research it further.
Virgil
> The easiest - and safst - approach would be to use Libreoffice to
> create the form, save it as a fillable PDF form, then send that to
> your students.\Government agencies make great targets for ADA &Section 508 lawsuits,
because they have deep pockets. Since PDF is not an accessible file
format, that fill-able PDF form means that a student with an a11y can,
and since they are probably broke, will sue the college for Section
508/ADA violations. (For individuals with a11y issues, filing ADA
lawsuits is a great source of income. One lawsuit a month. One
settlement per month, US$5,000 per month, tax free. Great way to
supplement one's disability check.)IOW, fill-able PDF is an extremely bad idea.
What's the 'approved' solution?