LibreOffice on a Chromebook?

users
#1

I have been thinking about getting a Chromebook, but the one thing
holding me back is that I need to be able to run LibreOffice. Is that
something I can do now? And if so, how well does it run?

Thanks,

#2

​Unfortunately, I can't speak exactly about how LibreOffice behave on a
chromebook, but it is possible to have LibreOffice run on it through
various mean. In my opinion, a good way to do so is by using "crouton",
which allow running a full Linux on top of ChromeOS (at the same time, not
in a dual-boot setting). Obviously this can be leveraged to run LibreOffice.

One thing to keep in mind is that some chromebook have very limited disk
space available, so you may want to change that.

#3

I have been thinking about getting a Chromebook, but the one thing holding me back is that I need to be able to run LibreOffice. Is that something I can do now?

I'm no expert, but ...

That depends on its operating system. If it is really a Chromebook, it will be running the Google Chrome operating system - right? In that case, I suspect the answer is "No", but Wikipedia tells me that "Enabling developer mode allows the installation of Linux distributions on Chromebooks." If you do this, then the answer will presumably become "Yes", since there is an LibreOffice version for Linux - indeed, probably included in that distribution.

But some of those Chromebooks are now actually "Cloudbooks" and are sold with Windows installed. In that case, the answer would be "Yes".

And if so, how well does it run?

Dunno. May depend on *which* Chromebook ...

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

#4

Hi all:

I got this link and suggestion from other e-mail of this users list. It
would be a good solution:

"There is another option: get a free account at https://open365.io/ and
use LibreOffice 5.1.0.3 within your browser."

Regards,

Jorge Rodríguez

#5

Suggest you read the following:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2984834/chromebooks/installing-linux-on-a-chromebook-what-you-need-to-know.html
http://www.androidauthority.com/crouton-turn-your-chromebook-into-far-more-than-a-glorified-web-browser-663044/
https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
So yes, with effort, it's possible but you will still be using a small KB &
screen.

#6

Hi Kevin,

I have been thinking about getting a Chromebook, but the one thing
holding me back is that I need to be able to run LibreOffice. Is that
something I can do now? And if so, how well does it run?

Not directly, but if you install Crouton on top of ChromeOS, then yes,
you can also run LibreOffice.

I have installed Crouton on my Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015) and am using
Ubuntu 16.04 with LXDE desktop environment. LibreOffice provided by that
Ubuntu version works pretty much as it would on a standard Linux OS.

Alex

#7

On a side note - other than LibreOffice use - - -

Have you ever tried to get older printers installed on a Chromebook? I had to get a friend's to work with her printer - no go.

So I tried my printers. All but one of my network printers either cannot be installed or does not work correctly. My old laser does work though.