OpenOffice is a boost to Linux but poor support.

[irv]

I know that OpenOffice is getting very popular with more that Linux users because it is open source. People are getting fed up with paying for Office products as the price keeps going up and up.
In many way I find OpenOffice much better. The only complaint I have is their support. I have some issues with Impress as do many other but in many cases we never get the help we need. I am a member of there forum, and I have taken note that there are many threads that go unanswer. I see thread that have had up to 700 viewers but only 2 replies and never get a real answer to the problem.
That bring us to Ubuntu forum. This forum rocks! I plan on posting my OpenOffice problem under General help here, maybe I will get a reply.
Thank for letting me spout off.

[Nick_Jinn]

Perhaps you should hire some support from a freelance linux expert. This place is excellent and free....it is where I get 90% of my info. For less than the costing of buying office for your workers you could hire some third party support.

It does seem like Open Office should consider offering advanced one on one support for a fee though.


I dont use Impress myself, but I hope you find what you are looking for. What difficulties are you having?

[neoargon]

Isn't it natural , when you are not paying anything ?

[Spice Weasel]

Isn't it natural , when you are not paying anything ?

The support on these forums is 300% better than any tech support phone service and most email based ones.

[neoargon]

In Ubuntuforums , you will get good quality help in a very friendly manner . If you are dissatisfied, you can buy the commercial technical support from canonical (visit www.ubuntu.com)

[neoargon]

The support on these forums is 300% better than any tech support phone service and most email based ones.

Yes the support in this forum is very good

[libssd]

The support on these forums is 300% better than any tech support phone service and most email based ones.
Pretty much true, although I once read of a tech support guy who was hit by a car during his lunch break, and called a customer from his hospital bed to check if a problem had been resolved (reportedly, he also apologized for the delay).

I have long felt that the collective user community knows more about an application or OS than do its designers. Of course, with FOSS this is pretty much a tautological statement.

[irv]

Perhaps you should hire some support from a freelance linux expert. This place is excellent and free....it is where I get 90% of my info. For less than the costing of buying office for your workers you could hire some third party support.

It does seem like Open Office should consider offering advanced one on one support for a fee though.


I dont use Impress myself, but I hope you find what you are looking for. What difficulties are you having?

Just make a clarification, I am not a business man any more, I am retired. I am not looking for professional support, just a little help in a few problems I was having with Impress. With that said, my problem can be found at: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1547026 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1547026)
I posted it after I posted this thread.
Since I retired I do volunteer work and do some teaching, and I use Impress for presentations.
I do appreciated all the comments on this thread, Thanks to all.

[LowSky]

I think I found the answer.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6792153_embed-sound-openoffice-impress.html

[irv]

I think I found the answer.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6792153_embed-sound-openoffice-impress.html

I answer this in the thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1547026
It work for me.

[cloyd]

Would like to add one bit of information. I went to the office site about a year ago and downloaded some manuals in PDF format. They had information I could never find in under the help button.

[irv]

Would like to add one bit of information. I went to the office site about a year ago and downloaded some manuals in PDF format. They had information I could never find in under the help button.
Thanks, I also download it.

[Hagar Delest]

In which forum have you posted?
There is also that one: http://user.services.openoffice.org/, with localized area (even if the EN one is the most active).

Note that Impress is not the most advanced module of OOo IMHO.

[irv]

In which forum have you posted?
There is also that one: http://user.services.openoffice.org/, with localized area (even if the EN one is the most active).

Note that Impress is not the most advanced module of OOo IMHO.

I posted on http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewforum.phtml?f=4

[Hagar Delest]

Try the other one, then, perhaps you'll get more answers.

[irv]

Try the other one, then, perhaps you'll get more answers.

Thanks, I did this and made a new post there. Let see what happens. I also did a search and it seem other have had problems in this area also but I have not found an answer yet.

[AlphaLexman]

I seem to notice that the majority of 'cross-platform software' forums do not support the linux kernel. That is not the forum maintainer's fault. It is the members and users that don't have the knowledge (because they may be MSWin based). So sometimes, (most of the time) it is easier, (and quicker) to go to a linux-based forum, or even the ubuntu forums. Here, more users are active, so you can get a quicker, more pinpointed answer/solution.

[irv]

I finely got an answer, not the one I wanted. In case your are interested here is a link to OpenOffice forum with the answer:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=33049&p=151602#p151602

[Hagar Delest]

I seem to notice that the majority of 'cross-platform software' forums do not support the linux kernel. That is not the forum maintainer's fault. It is the members and users that don't have the knowledge (because they may be MSWin based). So sometimes, (most of the time) it is easier, (and quicker) to go to a linux-based forum, or even the ubuntu forums. Here, more users are active, so you can get a quicker, more pinpointed answer/solution.
That's not really the case for the OOo community forum. We have several big posters who run GNU/Linux distros (and not only Ubuntu).
Note that the thread has been answered in few minutes.
;)

[AlphaLexman]

That's not really the case for the OOo community forum. We have several big posters who run GNU/Linux distros (and not only Ubuntu).
Note that the thread has been answered in few minutes.
;)
Technically, I was generalising, not pointing a finger at open-office or any other forum, but at the MANY other cross-platform forums that have low post counts. Open-office and gimp forums are among the best open-source software forums. But the truth is they still don't have the membership or the post count that some bigger forums do... and hence many users just give up, and go to the larger forums.

[irv]

That's not really the case for the OOo community forum. We have several big posters who run GNU/Linux distros (and not only Ubuntu).
Note that the thread has been answered in few minutes.
;)

Yes, I am going to eat a little crow, After getting on the right forum, The answer came very fast. I wish I could take this thread back.
I didn't get the answer I wanted, but I did get an answer.
I would hope that an embed feature would be added as OpenOffice is developed. This would be great.

[Hagar Delest]

Then vote for the bug, it's the only way to increase their priority in the todo list of the devs. Since this is already possible for text files, this change should be very easy to implement.

Don't take this thread back. You've helped by forcing the community to have a deeper look at this Impress issue, search for the correct bug and by "advertising" it, it may get a wider attention, get votes and get fixed soon perhaps. There were several topics about this issue in the OOo forum but we hadn't even spotted the bug report.

NB: you can also add a post in the oooforum where you had first posted, pointing to your other thread or directly to the bug report, it could help get additional votes!

[libssd]

And this is a great example of why FOSS software support can be superior to commercial software. Whether you are a coder or not, participation, even just by reporting problems, ultimately helps everybody.

[MCVenom]

Just wanted to mention Oracle Open Office (formerly Sun's StarOffice) (http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/open-office/index.html), which is the commercially supported version of OpenOffice.org.

[rjbl]

I know that OpenOffice is getting very popular with more that Linux users because it is open source. People are getting fed up with paying for Office products as the price keeps going up and up.
In many way I find OpenOffice much better. The only complaint I have is their support. I have some issues with Impress as do many other but in many cases we never get the help we need. I am a member of there forum, and I have taken note that there are many threads that go unanswer. I see thread that have had up to 700 viewers but only 2 replies and never get a real answer to the problem.
That bring us to Ubuntu forum. This forum rocks! I plan on posting my OpenOffice problem under General help here, maybe I will get a reply.
Thank for letting me spout off.

Actually, like many GNU/Linux users, I've been using OpenOffice and its predecessor versions of Star Office since my Redhat 5 days. D'you wanna know an fascinatin' thing? I've never actually had any need to call for support for the application. Never, as in not once. Sure, I've swapped out versions over the years, never cost me a penny, let alone £200 a throw. Now, on the other hand, I have had to be quite hands-on with Office 95, Office 97, Office 2000 etc, etc, etc; ad nauseum. All the broken bits and all the security vulnerabilities have exercised me so..ooo much over the decade, and cost my employers so much in licensing fees and maintenance.

rjbl