OpenOffice is a very bad man

[geokker]

I couldn't find a 'Whines, Whinges and General Moaning' section in the forums. Open Office. I have 1.1 and 2 beta installed on Hedgehog. It is bloatware in the extreme. I can plonk along swimmingly until I'm forced to open a Word document, when the big, dopey office suite croaks into existence. Goodbye speed and stability, hello soul crushing disk activity and error dialogues.

I blame both Microsoft and Sun Microsystems for this assault on my otherwise excellent Ubuntu experience. Microsoft for resisting open standards and persisting in making things overly complex and Sun for producing nothing but tat since their inception.

OpenOffice is not proper open source software. It is a reverse-engineered shambles. If you can, avoid it. Use AbiWord.

I honestly feel better now!

[Kvark]

I always use text files instead of word documents for my texts. Unless it is something that should be printed so maybe I just missed the problems. But the little I have used openoffice for formatting documents for printing, there hasn't been any problems.

Have used openoffice for spreadsheets quite a bit though and that part works perfectly fine.

[lorenzo]

Well,
to some extents the only replacemento to MS office is OpenOffice. I've tried other solutions but I think that OpenOffice is by far the better.

If you work in an environment where MS Office compatibility is a must you MUST use openoffice. And if you need to present reports to your customers, you CANNOT use text files...

About the releases, you should try 1.9.108 (i've installed from a .deb file). Much better than 1.9.79 that you can find with synaptic. You'll notice the difference.

Ciao,
Lorenzo

[poofyhairguy]

I couldn't find a 'Whines, Whinges and General Moaning' section in the forums. Open Office. I have 1.1 and 2 beta installed on Hedgehog. It is bloatware in the extreme. I can plonk along swimmingly until I'm forced to open a Word document, when the big, dopey office suite croaks into existence. Goodbye speed and stability, hello soul crushing disk activity and error dialogues.

I blame both Microsoft and Sun Microsystems for this assault on my otherwise excellent Ubuntu experience. Microsoft for resisting open standards and persisting in making things overly complex and Sun for producing nothing but tat since their inception.

OpenOffice is not proper open source software. It is a reverse-engineered shambles. If you can, avoid it. Use AbiWord.

I honestly feel better now!


A. This is not the place to gripe so I moved it.

B. The newer openoffice is mush better.

C. I mostly agree with you, long live Abiword.

[Curlydave]

OpenOffice, 1 and 2 are slow as balls. For example, MS Word loads in less than a second, but I could be waiting 10 seconds or more for writer to pop up.

[poofyhairguy]

OpenOffice, 1 and 2 are slow as balls. For example, MS Word loads in less than a second, but I could be waiting 10 seconds or more for writer to pop up.


It can be made better:

sudo apt-get install ooqstart-gnome

+

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1971&highlight=prelink

and it not so bad.

[benplaut]

About the releases, you should try 1.9.108 (i've installed from a .deb file)


i've been looking for that!

where'd you find it?

[gil-galad]

OpenOffice.org is great. It is a completely free office suite that works almost perfect with Office files. On my two-year-old computer it takes around 5 seconds to load the first time, and less than 3 seconds after that. I like abiword too, but openoffice is still useful for all those Office documents floating around. And openoffice also does a pretty good job of integrating with gnome.

Sure abiword and gnumeric are great, but you still need slide shows, and Impress is second to none. :D

[N'Jal]

Yes please do tell, i hear people saying they have the latest OO.o deb's but id love to find the deb's, not aliend rpm's either since i tryed that and although it installed properly i could not run it and had to remove it.

[benplaut]

Sure abiword and gnumeric are great, but you still need slide shows, and Impress is second to none. :D


Impress is still second to PowerPoint [-X

[gil-galad]

Impress is still second to PowerPoint [-X

I disagree. And I don't see an open source version of powerpoint, so the comparison is moot.

\\//_

[benplaut]

I disagree. And I don't see an open source version of powerpoint, so the comparison is moot.

\\//_


source doesn't matter if all you're trying to do is make a nice presentation!

i know there's alot of anti-Microsoft fealing in the linux community, but they make a d*mn good office suite.

<flamesheild=on>

(and no, i'm not being a troll. i actually beleive that)

[kanem]

Sure abiword and gnumeric are great, but you still need slide shows, and Impress is second to none. :D
There's an open stand-alone presentation application in the works.. Can't recall the name right now though. Anyone heard of this?

Hopefully it will be here soon. Like others here, I greatly prefer Abiword and Gnumeric to OO's versions and am itching to ditch Impress as well.

Edit: I think I was talking about Criawips (http://www.nongnu.org/criawips/index.html). Still not really ready yet, but hopefully it will get there. Although it hasn't been updated in half a year, this was posted recently on their Gnomefiles (http://www.gnomefiles.org/app.php?soft_id=265) site in the comments section:
Criawips' development is still continuing, we're currently just waiting for some bigger steps to be completed before we release the next version,....

[Krank]

Well...

It all depends on what you need the software for, dunnit?

Personally, I use Writer only when someone tosses me a formatted text file. If I actually want to create a nice-looking document, I turn to a layout program, not a word processor. If I want to do something seriously, I turn to LaTeX. Different progs for different uses.

MS Office is a bloated piece of crap. So is OO, but at least OO works as it's supposed to, and doesn't cost anything.


And presentations... I'm a big loather (is that a word?) of effing "presentations"... Presentations always look like sh*t. Seldom have I loathed a piece of software as I loathe PowerPoint and all progs like it.

[Krank]

EDIT: One more thing. Abiword is bloated, too. The best software I've ever come across is probably Wordpad for windows. If anyone were to add spellchecking and tabbed documents to that one, it's rock Abiword and Word and Writer so hard I'd almost feel sorry for them.

[jzke]

I use AbiWord where possible too, it only has limited support for office .doc files, so it's not always best. However, given that OpenOffice.org is open source, couldn't someone port OO.o's MS Office (Document) Filter as a plug-in for AbiWord???? I just love the simpler interface, and the matching icons.

[noddleif]

I wonder if WordPerfect will ever again be ported to Linux?
My opinion, it is the best ever. User friendly, fast and clever and stable.
This is what I miss most in linux.
OO will do the same things, but more difficult to use, and so slow.
I love to smile so
Smile smile.
Nod.

[tristan]

I think quite a lot of linux people have mixed feelings about OOo. Quite frankly I find the resource usage and startup times of OOo absolutely ridiculous. I've got a 2.6GHz/1Gb box which makes using it reasonably pleasant, but on my previous 450MHz/256Mb box the slow startup and sluggishness were just about intolerable. In fact intolerable to the point where I actually went out and paid for a small, very fast and feature filled program called textmaker. This program is an example of how to write tight code! Starts in <1sec, 80% of the features of OOo Writer (more than Abiword), MS word compatible, less than 10 Mb installed.

Considering that free / open source is touted as the way forward for people who don't have access to the latest greatest hardware (eg Africa), the resource requirements for the shining jewels of free software (OOo as well as Gnome, Kde, Firefox etc) to run acceptably are pretty bloody high I think.

On the flip side, OOo has made amazing advances in the last few years. It was good enough for me to write my PhD thesis on at home, and saved me buying a Windows box! OOo1.9.109 is certainly a step in the right direction as far as reducing startup times. I'd love to see a truly modular OOo 3.0 with 50% the resource usage and startup time. A man can dream!

[Topper]

On the flip side, OOo has made amazing advances in the last few years. It was good enough for me to write my PhD thesis on at home, and saved me buying a Windows box! OOo1.9.109 is certainly a step in the right direction as far as reducing startup times. I'd love to see a truly modular OOo 3.0 with 50% the resource usage and startup time. A man can dream!

I used OOo to write my bachelor assignment, and it's quite adequate. Now if it only would be speedier...

[poofyhairguy]

i know there's alot of anti-Microsoft fealing in the linux community, but they make a d*mn good office suite.


Yeah...its the best now...but its also pretty expensive. You get what you pay for I think.

[benplaut]

Yeah...its the best now...but its also pretty expensive. You get what you pay for I think.


or don't pay for 8-[


<<edit>>

Textmaker looks really sweet!

can't find any torrents on it, though ](*,)

[nocturn]

i know there's alot of anti-Microsoft fealing in the linux community, but they make a d*mn good office suite.


Hey, you're entitled to your opinion.
I personally hate it. Have to use it at work (Office 2003). It's GUI is inconsistent and confusing (options can be hidden several dialogs down). It took me months to figure out how to stop the vanishing menu items (which the Win start menu still does BTW).

They still didn't get silly things like page numbering and indexing right. Printing large documents often causes problems.

Ironicly, the bad shape of Office (97 back then) made me remove Windows from my dual boot in 1999 because Office had ruined my graduating thesis (and ~20 backup copies) costing me about 4 hours to recover manually. I never experienced any document or data loss with StarOffice or OpenOffice, although I do admit OpenOffice is slower.

[poofyhairguy]

or don't pay for 8-[


Are you implying pirating Office? I'll assume you are not.

The one good thing that will come out of the eventual death of the darknet (what Billy G. calls the part of the net where all the infringment is going on) at the hands of trusted computing is that more people will use OSS apps when they know that stealing commercial apps can land them some real jail time.

Not that I want that to happen of course.

[weekend warrior]

OpenOffice Writer vs. TextMaker: Which Linux Word Processor Should You Use? (http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=366535&rl=1)

[geokker]

Are you implying pirating Office? I'll assume you are not.

Sun have effectively done just that.


Quite frankly I find the resource usage and startup times of OOo absolutely ridiculous.

The Inkscape guy was so horrified at Draw, he created his own program.


The best software I've ever come across is probably Wordpad for windows.

Notepad (on XP) is the best Windows program ever. It's instant.

Basically, I want to get away from Microsoft Windows. I want to get away from the turgid slowness. Having to be compatible with their wordprocessing 'standard' irks me. Having to duplicate the bloaty experience of MS Office suite irks me further. In an ideal world, there would be an open, universally adopted standard for multimedia docs. This of course, won't happen.

Also, I'm willing to buy a compatible program - it doesn't have to be free - just work and work well.

[nocturn]

Sun have effectively done just that.


What do you mean by this?

[geokker]

As I mentioned previously, OpenOffice is Microsoft office reverse engineered. Have a look at this article:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/11/torvalds_attack/

[nocturn]

As I mentioned previously, OpenOffice is Microsoft office reverse engineered. Have a look at this article:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/11/torvalds_attack/

Ok, I get your statement. OO reverse engineered the MS Office *file formats*, that is correct and about the only way to support those files.

OO itself is not based on anything in MS Office, it is based on the great StarOffice suit (which was quite innovative in itself). Star was bought by Sun, wo released the source code into OpenOffice, forking StarOffice from there.

So we are talking about the file formats only, not source code.

[geokker]

The primary annoyance is that people send me a few paragraphs of text in a .doc file. They do this without thinking, assuming it is a defacto standard and that'll I'll be able to open it.

Yes I can open it by using the OpenOffice megalith but should I have to? I think MS would only gain if they opened up the formats and sold products to linux users.

The fact remains (for me) that it is an unpleasant, unstable, ugly and slow experience using OpenOffice 1.1 or 2 beta.

[nocturn]

The fact remains (for me) that it is an unpleasant, unstable, ugly and slow experience using OpenOffice 1.1 or 2 beta.

I agree with the slow part, although both StarOffice and OO always have been rock solid for me (been using StarOffice since version 5).

[angkor]

Oo2 Writer opens in 10 seconds on my 2.0GH 1 G ram box. I am quite ok with that, I'm not in any kind of hurry. :)

[primeirocrime]

I don't think OpenOffice is that bad. Just slugish on startup, but hey I can make some coffee while it loads in the morning and after that it just loads faster. I just wish there was a way of not installing everything. I have no use for Draw or Impress [or any kind of presentation powerpoint thinggie] and I confess I use it only for .doc files... why should I have to get this behemot for such a tiny document format? it eludes me.

But if i have to write something in a hurry and I'm not concerned with the design and or format, I just use gedit or leafpad save as txt file and then choose my work horse to give it shape. I find office suites to be very restrictive because of all the options and can make loose focus on content. Even here in the forums I loose focus and want to use every option to make my text more bling.

[Curlydave]

I'm going to ask a basic question, not sure if anyone here would know the answer: Why is Open Office so slow? It's slow as hell in both Windows and Linux. Usually open-source software is simple, clean, compact and fast, but OO is just the opposite. Is there a reason why?

[Stormy Eyes]

I'm going to ask a basic question, not sure if anyone here would know the answer: Why is Open Office so slow? It's slow as hell in both Windows and Linux. Usually open-source software is simple, clean, compact and fast, but OO is just the opposite. Is there a reason why?

OpenOffice inherited all the bloat of its proprietary ancestor StarOffice, which has its own GUI libraries so that it can look the same way on both Windows and Unix.

[nocturn]

I'm going to ask a basic question, not sure if anyone here would know the answer: Why is Open Office so slow? It's slow as hell in both Windows and Linux. Usually open-source software is simple, clean, compact and fast, but OO is just the opposite. Is there a reason why?

OO didn't start as Free Software, it came from the source of the commercial StarOffice.
Maybe the code is more complex to make it run natively on Windows too? I'm not sure.

[Optimal Aurora]

Open office is good, it is the best software for office work that you can find... I know a person that is an avid apple user and he likes it, heck he is making a book on using it... I use it everyday, almost everyday... I use it in fedora since it is the only distro as of yet to include all of openoffice.org-2.0 in it (more like the current version 1.9.112) and everything just works... (If I remember correctly that is a ubuntu philosophy). So don't grip and complain about openoffice being bad here, because it is a waste of time and server space...

Hay you all, when is ubuntu going to get apps like openoffice.org-2.0 or 1.9.112? And are they ever going to keep those apps up2date...

[Stormy Eyes]

Hay you all, when is ubuntu going to get apps like openoffice.org-2.0 or 1.9.112? And are they ever going to keep those apps up2date...

Maybe when the next release, Breezy Badger, comes out.

[qalimas]

I pretty much feel the same here, I only use OpenOffice when I simply MUST. If it's a little note for me, I use Kate... if I need a spreedsheet only I'll use or need, it's done in KOffice. I love the KOffice suite :D

[poofyhairguy]

Hay you all, when is ubuntu going to get apps like openoffice.org-2.0 or 1.9.112? And are they ever going to keep those apps up2date...

Officially our apps only update at every release.

[geokker]

I installed OO 1.9.792 with Synaptic.

OO crashed this morning. I noticed for the first time that the error dialogues in Gnome are copy and pastable. That is good design. snappable windows, always on top - excellent.

[Optimal Aurora]

I installed OO 1.9.792 with Synaptic.

OO crashed this morning. I noticed for the first time that the error dialogues in Gnome are copy and pastable. That is good design. snappable windows, always on top - excellent.
That is really 1.9.79-2...

It doesn't make any since to wait until the official new version release is made to start using something like this... That's why firefox didn't like ubuntu alot...

[poofyhairguy]

It doesn't make any since to wait until the official new version release is made to start using something like this....

Some people agree with you:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=30866

And Jdong has said before that when the official release comes out some backporting will take place.

I can wait.

[BWF89]

The only thing I can't figure out to do on OpenOffice is write in color. I've never had to write anything in color but it would be nice to know how.