LibreOffice installation issue.

users
#1

To Whom it May Concern,

I've installed the latest version of Libre Office to my PC. Version
4.1.04.
I selected only calc and draw programs to be installed, along with
language English (UK) only.
Doing that the program wouldn't run after successful installation.
After the failure I uninstalled it and I could see only invalid
characters in the uninstall dialogue box.
I think unselecting the language English (US) or English (South Africa
?) was a mistake but I was able to do it and it is wrong.
If the language is essential for the application to run it shouldn't be
an option to install.

I also find very hard to find this email address on your website. I bit
frustrating....

Needless to say, the program is off the PC and not going back for a
while.
Good luck next time.

Regards,
    Sandor Marton

Sandor MartonSenior Software DeveloperSparc Systems Ltd.—-
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#2

Would it be possible for you to provide the error message you received ?
The Get help page has numerous ways to obtain assistance including the
users mailing list ..
http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Oh, i assumed it was just another troll or else just someone a bit rushed and unable to do a simple google-search or quick visit of the LibreOffice or "The Document Foundation" websites.  It's unusually hot in the UK right now so people are unusually irritable here at the moment.

On the downloads page it does give the 4.1.0 by default which i tend to think is a bit of a mistake.  I think it should be the latest stable version at least until the newer branch reaches x.x.3.  However, they do clearly state (just above the downloads 'buttons') that
"This version of LibreOffice is prepared with care and presented with
pride by the LibreOffice community. PLEASE NOTE that, since this is the
very first version in the series, make sure to read the release notes (under "Handy resources")."
The bit after the "PLEASE NOTE" is worth taking notice of.  Perhaps making it a bit clearer by saying "in the NEW series" might have helped but however careful one is about things like that someone will find a way of not noticing it or of misunderstanding it.

From what Sandor Marton wrote it's quite possible he got a corrupted version of LibreOffice from some 3rd party site rather than from the official website.  Normally 3rd party sites are also careful and good as they often have their own reputation to maintain.  Of course it might be possible to find some dodgy blog site but hopefully people have more sense than to go out looking for trouble.  I was a bit surprised Sandor Marton didn't give a link to where he downloaded from but i've seen people forget that sort of detail before so it wasn't a huge surprise.  Similarly with OS, and error messages.  He did mention that he tried to install it without any language, which i hadn't thought of trying.

I didn't think it was possible to install just 2 or 3 of the modules.  The question has come up a few times in the mailing list and i'm sure other places too and the answer is almost always "No".  Usually giving the reason why not.  Again it might be possible to find some dodgy site or place that have people giving hopelessly wrong answers such as Staples, Kioskea, Yahoo Answers but a quick look at a couple of other answers on their sites usually indicates how reliable they are.  Sadly Staples probably looks legit, although at the end of the day it is just a warehouse-shop so the sales staff are likely to be desperately low paid and clueless.

It might be tricky for some people to find this mailing list.  It's 3 clicks from any of the slides on the home-page
1.  Click on whichever slides' link
2.  Click on "Get Help"
3.  Click on Nabble or "Mailing Lists" although some of the other options would have also reached people, notably the IRC or "Ask LibreOffice"

Actually one of the links leads to the "The Document Foundation"s website and that has a "Contact us" page which leads to the mailing list and to our Facebook fan page, the official blog, twitter, indenti.ca, an email address to reach the Board of Directors and 4 named individuals that have official "@documentatfoundation.org" email addresses.

So, i just ignored the original post but i keep considering passing it on because it throws up a few concerns that it might be possible to prevent in the future = such as adding "NEW" in before "series" on the downloads page or doing something else to make it even clearer that there is a more stable branch/series.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

Hi Sandor

As a long time successful user of Star Office, OpenOffice, and now settled on LibreOffice in Windows and Linux, I am saddened to hear your bad luck with the installation. Version 4.1.0.4 is the stable version so it should not (not for me anyway) give any language issues with it's install.

Firstly make sure that you have downloaded the correct language base file and it's assistant. Go to the download page here http://www.libreoffice.org/download and then just below the green bars "Main Installer" and "LibreOffice built-in help" click on the link "Not the version you wanted? Change the language". On this next page go down the list, left column until you see the one "English (GB)" and click on it. A page will show with your two needed files and the correct language you are looking for. Click in the green bars mentioned to download your files.

What you can do is install it the same way you did, with just the apps you want i.e. the Calc and Draw as per your previous install. To make sure your language is the one you need open Calc, and go to the menu bar "Tools - Options - Language Settings - Languages". On the right you can set the "User Interface" "Locale setting" to English UK, and your "Default Currency" as well if you so choose, You would also need to change you "Date acceptance patterns" as well for your language and country pattern, Date month Year etc.

That should sort you out and give a better experience with LO. If you need furhter help and assistance, please reply. I can send you screenshots of what I am referring to as well, as I live in South Africa, and have set mine to work perfectly with my country locale and language settings.

Regards

Andrew Brown

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
Err, just 1 correction.

It's the 4.0.4 that is the most recent stable version.  There is a 3.6.7 which is also stable but i would go for the 4.0.4 in almost all cases now.

The 4.1.0 is the first in the newer series and as such it brings in newer functionality and features.  Most people will find it plenty stable enough.  Even the alpha-test and beta-test versions were plenty stable enough for most people that used them but many people will be avoiding the 4.1.x branch until it reaches at least 4.1.3.  Right now it's the best choice if you want cutting-edge or new features.

It's described on
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/release-policy/

There is a little graphic on the "Release Plan" page
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan
although the colour-coding is possibly confusing.  It might do better to use red, amber, green = as traffic lights do.  Reducing it down to 3 colours might help anyway.  It used to be much larger on the page which made it much easier to understand at a glance.  I think it's been made too small now.  However the graphic was an inspired stroke of genius when it was first created.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

Apologies, late night Saturday here 11H40PM, the version is 4.0.4.2 that I use in Windows and Linux and the stable one, not 4.1.???.

Regards

Andrew Brown

#7

3.6.7 is the end-of-line release for the 3.6.x line. Stable but does not have all of the "good stuff" that was presented in the 4.0.x line.

4.0.4 is the current release of that line, with 4.0.5 was originally scheduled to come out this week, but has been rescheduled to the week of the 19th.

4.1.0 is out now, but 4.1.1 should be out by the end of the month.

As for which one that I would install on my Windows or Linux systems, well I have it installed. 4.0.4.

Unless there is something you must have that is in the 4.1.0 version and not in 4.0.4, then you might want to think about it real hard before you install 4.1.0, if you want to use it on a "business system" or have 100% uptime. Sure 4.1.0 has the most cutting edge options, but if you are a "business user" I would stick with 4.0.4.

#8

Hi :) 
LibreOffice is tightly integrated and attempting to install only 1 or 2 components doesn't save you much disk-space.  They all use the main core.  Each module/component/'program'/'app' adds only a tiny bit extra on top.

If all you want is a spreadsheet then Gnumeric is a standalone spreadsheet program and is sometimes faster or more sophisticated than Calc or Excel.  It might look rudimentary on the surface but only because all their work goes into the under-the-bonnet stuff
https://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/
https://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/downloads.shtml

For picture editing you might find a dedicated scalar-vector graphics program better
http://inkscape.org/
or a photo-editor that looks a bit like Photoshop
http://www.gimp.org/
for which the Windows down-loader is here
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/
Personally although i really like Gimp in Gnu&Linux i find it's Windows version a pain.  In Gnu&Linux when you want to save in a different format you just change the file-ending from .jpg or .gif or .png or whatever to the format you do want.  It then gives a pop-up listing lots of options but the defaults are fine so just "Ok" and job-done.  In the Windows version you can only save in xcf format and have to use
File - Export - and then choose the format, and then deal with the same pop-up.

So, if you are doing graphic design then inkscape is probably one of the best.  If you are doing photo-editing on Windows then possibly Gimp.  If you are on Gnu&Linux, such as Ubuntu, SuSE or other then definitely Gimp.

However there are lots of different programs for drawing so it really depends on what you are doing.  Apparently if you are uploading your photos to picassa then they have a pretty neat drawing tool that you can use without even installing it on your machine (ie it's a Cloud-based app).

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#9

Tom Davies wrote:

I didn't think it was possible to install just 2 or 3 of the modules.

I haven't checked recently, but for years, with OpenOffice, it has been
an option, though it didn't save much disk space.

#10

Hi :slight_smile:
Was that just on Gnu&Linux (and presumably Bsd) or on Windows too?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#11

Tom Davies wrote:

Was that just on Gnu&Linux (and presumably Bsd) or on Windows too?

Both, IIRC, but I've never installed just part of it.

#12

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahh, interesting.  I've never noticed it.  At least i don't remember noticing it but then
a.  i don't notice much anyway
b.  my memory is not as good as it used to be, i think.  At least i think it used to be better but it's difficult to remember that far back now

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: