Given up with LibreOffice - again!

[deanr2]

I want to like LibreOffice - I really do. Over the years, I've downloaded it an untold number of times looking for a decent open source replacement for MS Office. But for one reason or another it never quite cuts it.

When I first switched from Microsoft to Linux I was happy that WPS Office was available as a free download. I'd actually switched to WPS on Windows 10 and found it to be an excellent free (legal!) replacement for my outdated Word 2007. But, then I found out about the new (experimental) ribbon on LibreOffice 6 and thought I'd give it (another) go.

It's much better than I remember. I like(d) it. It looks really nice on the Ubunu desktop, especially with Elementary icons. It's really configurable too! So much so in fact that I even returned to the regular non-ribbon view with customised menus. Finally, I could use LibreOffice fully for my work-related needs. What more could I ask for?

Well, I could ask for a word processor that doesn't make an absolute mess of tables or columns when I open a .docx document created by a colleague. I could ask for a word processor that can copy and paste from one document from another without changing font size and type - even one created on a separate LibreOffice document only moments before. I could ask for a word processor that doesn't randomly add bold text to the top or bottom lines when I copy and paste text. I could ask for a word processor that doesn't lose half its icons when I minimise and maximise the window. Or slow down to a snail's crawl when I'm editting a text with track changes on. Or change the colour of highlighted text from one doc to another. Or add strange page breaks where I never asked for one...

I could possibly go on but these are the things off the top of my head that I have experienced this week alone. I've been so unproductive fighting with these issues that I had reinstall WPS office again. I simply can't afford to lose so much time when I've got deadlines to meet.

Keep up the good work, LibreOffice. But unfortunately for me you're still not quite cutting it.

[PaulW2U]

Keep up the good work, LibreOffice. But unfortunately for me you're still not quite cutting it.
We're Ubuntu here, not LibreOffice.

Have you raised tour concerns and issues directly to LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/) by raising bug reports where appropriate? Ubuntu and its flavours will take LibreOffice and fix any issues that are directly related to installing LibreOffice on Ubuntu.

Major issues will always need to be fixed by the LibreOffice developers themselves.

[mörgæs]

Well, I could ask for a word processor that doesn't make an absolute mess of tables or columns when I open a .docx document created by a colleague.

Maybe you shouldn't blame Libreoffice but the company pushing the .docx format. They are not known to make life easy for the Libreoffice developers.

[QIII]

docx is a proprietary format. Microsoft owns it. If they don't release enough details for the LibreOffice developers to fully use it, that's their choice. Don't blame either party. The first can only work with what they know. The second is a business that needs to earn revenue. If Microsoft gives away the milk, nobody will ever buy the cow. Protecting their intellectual rights and revenue stream are neither unethical nor immoral.

[monkeybrain20122]

The only way to solve the compatibility problem is to ditch the MS formats and use ODF. If you are not happy you should complain at MS's forum.

[deanr2]

All good points. I sense I've touched a nerve which was never my intention. Apologies. In response,...

Firstly, why post here on the Ubuntu forum? Well, I chose to post my thoughts in the 'cafe' which is "The Community Chat area is for lighthearted and enjoyable discussions, such as you might find around a water cooler at work." I'm guessing many people here use or have used LibreOffice and I was merely 'chatting' not asking for a fix or technical support.

Secondly, yes - very good point about .docx being made difficult for other developers. And yes, you're right. It's not correct to blame either party. Still, Kingsoft and I believe now Softmaker have been able to produce word processors with much greater cross-format (i.e. MS word) compatibility and that's because developers are aware that .docx is pretty much the industry standard.

Thirdly, using anything other than .doc or .docx is not an option for me or many others that work professionally in the field of publishing. After ditching Windows I've found a software programme that can replace Word in everything that I need it to do on Linux. It just happens to be WPS and not LibreOffice, that's all.

No offence to any parties / companies intended.

[mörgæs]

...neither unethical nor immoral.

In all other areas of society people would frown upon a monopoly for being unethical and immoral. It's always a surprise to me that people in here feel called to jump to the defense of said monopoly.


Original poster, you don't have to apologise. Discussing Libreoffice is of course a valid subject.

[Buntu Bunny]

I'm in publishing as well and can empathize with the inconsistencies LO creates when sharing documents. PDFs are the only way to ensure formatting stays put, but those aren't always convenient. Hadn't heard of WPS office, however.

deanr2, you say it doesn't have the problems LO does? I may have to give it a try.

[monkeybrain20122]

In all other areas of society people would frown upon a monopoly for being unethical and immoral. It's always a surprise to me that people in here feel called to jump to the defense of said monopoly.



+ 1 to that.

[monkeybrain20122]

Still, Kingsoft and I believe now Softmaker have been able to produce word processors with much greater cross-format (i.e. MS word) compatibility and that's because developers are aware that .docx is pretty much the industry standard.
.

I never have a problem with .docx using LO, not once.. Maybe because I only need to read standard documents and never something very exotically or baroquely formatted. WPS doesn't support .odf and this is a show stopper for me. The only reason MS can run a monopoly is the widespread use of its locked down formats, so I use .odf as much as possible (MSO claims to be able to open them, so far I have had no compliant from people to whom I have sent these documents)

I checked out the Windows version of WPS on my dad's Windows laptop. It is like an adware with ads and popups unless you pay to get rid of the ads. Deepin Linux comes with WPS preinstalled, it doesn't have ads but then it is kind of strange that Deepin could package and distribute a proprietary software. not sure if it is the same if you download the Linux version yourself.

I have read in the Chinese blogs that WPS has high compatibility because it pays MS for some ingredients, can't confirm it though.

[deanr2]

WPS is by far the most MS Word compatible word processor I've found - although as stated above, apparently the new Softmaker software is supposed to be pretty good too. The majority of the docs I have to work with aren't exactly sophisticated (tabbed and indented texts, the occasional picture, table etc.) and WPS seems to open them around about 95% of the time accurately. LO, in my experience, is significantly less able to retain formatting.

On Windows, WPS comes with ads but the Linux version is totally ad-free. It can be downloaded and installed directly from App Grid or from the package in the link below.

Buntu Bunny - you should definitely check it out. It's free so you've got nothing to lose. It's default view is almost identical to Word 2016 but you can easily revert it back to 'classic menu' if you so choose. Although it is overall less configurable than LO:

http://wps-community.org/downloads

[VMC]

I'm in publishing as well and can empathize with the inconsistencies LO creates when sharing documents. PDFs are the only way to ensure formatting stays put, but those aren't always convenient. Hadn't heard of WPS office, however.

deanr2, you say it doesn't have the problems LO does? I may have to give it a try.
I was thinking the same thing. I tried to remember in the distant past, I think I already installed it. I'll try again to see what's different.
On Windows, I have a old 2003 office that can't be beat from the speed it delivers. It's all I need. So I'm not needing much. LO is a snail by comparisons.
Then again gnumeric is fast, but has some unusual mapping and it choices its own color from time to time. One things is odd. Gnumeric is much smaller on save.Most likely its zipping protocols.

edit:tried to install wps, it failed twice. Downloaded the "wps-office_10.1.0.5707_a21_i386.deb" file, after installing tons od dependices not installed. then found this info:

cd && wget -O wps-office.deb http://kdl1.cache.wps.com/ksodl/download/linux/a21//wps-office_10.1.0.5707~a21_amd64.deb. That failed as well.

Now that I look at it, no depends were wget.

[deanr2]

Well, VMC, unfortunately whenever something doesn't work I've very few ideas why.

Do you need the 64 bit package? I installed WPS on Ubuntu Mate 16.04 64 bit on Thursday using the amd64.deb package on the page which I put the link for. Maybe try that one. Is your system actually 64 bit?

Alternatively, it is available for direct install on the App Grid. Do you know this application? It's another Ubuntu software centre which is 10 x faster than the regular Ubuntu software centre. It comes as a download option in the Ubuntu Mate Software Boutique or can be downloaded directly from their site here:

http://www.appgrid.org/

[Buntu Bunny]

I tried to install wps, it failed twice. Downloaded the "wps-office_10.1.0.5707_a21_i386.deb" file, after installing tons od dependices not installed. then found this info:

cd && wget -O wps-office.deb http://kdl1.cache.wps.com/ksodl/download/linux/a21//wps-office_10.1.0.5707~a21_amd64.deb. That failed as well.

VMC, I was going to ask if you verified the SHA1SUM before installing. Then I ran across this article, Announcing the First SHA-1 Collision (https://security.googleblog.com/2017/02/announcing-first-sha1-collision.html) at the Google Security Blog. Apparently SHA-1 encrypting is now compromised. More info here (http://shattered.io/). Not sure if that has anything to do with your installation fails, but maybe it's just as well (?).

[bodhin2]

i love libreoffice and have really never had issues. used years ago on mcs and since then totally on linux.

[deanr2]

Hi bodhin2.

I'm glad LibreOffice does what you need it to. As I said in my initial post I'm certainly in favour of the whole project. At the moment, however, and based purely on my personal experience, it just doesn't perform as well as, and is not as stable as, WPS Writer. In fact, I went back to it for a small writing project (out of guilt after starting this thread?) only for it to suddenly start randomly crashing on me. Fortunately, the document recovery worked a charm. Phew! I've now removed LO from my Plank Dock.

Just one of those things I suppose...I remember years and years ago I bought a (for me) very expensive pair of Bergson walking boots - just for winter wear, nothing adventurous. The sole fell off after a couple of days of walking around the city. I took them back to the shop who refused to exchange them. They send them back to Germany for repair and about 8 weeks later I got them back. The sole fell off again after a couple of days and I binned them. Since then I have never, and I never will, buy anything from Bergson again. And yet I can guarantee you there are thousands of people (probably even hundreds on this forum) that are brand loyal to Bergson because of their quality and reliability.

Ho hum.

[bodhin2]

no problem. just a comment.


all my stuff is saved odt so tht is crucial for me at this time. wps i guess is more proprietary if i recall. A friend of mine loves it. Good luck!

[monkeybrain20122]

no problem. just a comment.


all my stuff is saved odt so tht is crucial for me at this time. wps i guess is more proprietary if i recall. A friend of mine loves it. Good luck!

WPS doesn't support odt, that is a show stopper for me. I don't care if it is proprietary, but I have a problem with it ONLY using MS's closed fornats. MSO's virtual monopoly is due to the widespread use of its incompatible formats, the only way to break it is to use open standard as much as possible.

[mastablasta]

i had the opposite experience a few years ago where WPS could not paste from or open a power point presentation in any meaningful way. and it was just a few simple graphs and tables. colours were messed up, fonts, and even line. everything was messed up in short.

lIbre office on the other hand handled it much better. though still not perfect, it needed only a few smaller changes and it looked like the original file. there are a couple of test files around on the web, but mostly only for word processor files. they should open the same in any program. but they don't. only sometimes difference is really small.

[Frogs Hair]

Been using SoftMaker FreeOffice with Windows which opens odf and ppt . There is a Linux version available.

[larry2311]

I use LO extensively and also "frown upon a monopoly for being unethical and immoral", mainly as it is corporatism/proprietism and having a vested interest in profit. As such people don't count except as consumers, so for me I choose community and family business as the preference. Hopefully, more people choose community over profit. Then we would all be rich. A side effect is we all have access to great software.