Request for guidance on using the latest mature version of LibreOffice

[LinuxSpring1]

There are two options given in MX Linux to install LibreOffice. The First option is to use the Out-Of-The-Box installed LibreOffice. This is the Mature release of LibreOffice which is as on today ver 7.4.7.2. This was released in May-2023 and is hosted in the Debian Stable Repository. However the most-upto-date mature release as on today is ver 7.6.7.2, which was released in May-2024.

The Second option is to use the Debian backports repository which has the leading/cutting edge release of LibreOffice, i.e. ver 24.2.5, which was released in Jul-2024. The mature release i.e. 7.x series is the one that is stable and recommended for normal and business users. While the leading/cutting edge release, i.e. 24.x or higher, is meant for power users, developers, testers, etc. This leading/cutting edge release, i.e. ver 24.x or higher, may have bugs so is not recommended for normal users.


I checked with Debian mailing list archive, and the for the past 2-3 months there has not been any indication that the Debian repository owners of OpenOffice are even working on getting the latest mature version, i.e. 7.6.x release, of LibreOffice merged into the repository.
I checked the FlatHub repository too. They host the leading/cutting edge release of Libre office, i.e. ver 24.2.x. They do not host the latest mature release of LibreOffice, i.e. ver 7.x.


If someone wants to use the latest mature version of LibreOffice, i.e. 7.x series, then the only option is to use debian package file downloaded from LibreOffice website. The issue is that this installation is not handled by MX Package Installer, i.e. MXPI. And apparently the deb files downloaded do not include a package repository from where the latest mature version of LibreOffice can be auto updated by using say MX Discover or Synaptics or any other package manager used by MX. The implication is that if LibreOffice is downloaded from the website then for each and every update the process has to be repeated, i.e. uninstall previous version of LibreOffice, get the latest deb file from LibreOffice website, and then download it. Very un-optimal. Further the current version of MX Linux is 23.3. If an upgrade were to occur somewhere down the line then also the process would have to be repeated.


I went through two threads in MX Linux forum, over here and here. But in both of them the option is to use the leading/cutting edge release, i.e. ver 24.x, or the the mature release provided by Debian, i.e. ver 7.4.7.2 as on today. So as the wise Yoda said, Following Clarifications, is what I seek
1) Is there a mechanism so that the latest mature version, i.e. ver 7.6.7.2, of LibreOffice can be installed by using the MX Package managers, (i.e. MXPI or Synaptics or Discover, etc)? Because Debian maintainers are way behind and will probably keep on having a significant lag.

2) Is there a mechanism wherein the latest mature version of LibreOffice is hosted in the MX Repositories? If this path has to be explored, what will it take?

3) Is there a package manager, similar to Discover/Synaptics, which can take care of installation + updation + removal from repositories as well as from the standalone Deb package files? Or can list those applications which have been installed from tar ball or deb package files along with the packages installed from Debian/MX repositories?

4) If we were to install LibreOffice from deb package files how will the integration with the Whisker menu be done? Will we have to create the shortcuts and file associations on our own?

5) If we were to install LibreOffice from deb package files and the libreoffice-plasma, libreoffice-qt5 and libreoffice-kf5 packages from the MX Package Installer then will the integration with KDE Plasma and other applications installed work seamlessly?

[DukeComposed]

If someone wants to use the latest mature version of LibreOffice, i.e. 7.x series, then the only option is to use debian package file downloaded from LibreOffice website. The issue is that this installation is not handled by MX Package Installer, i.e. MXPI.

I went through two threads in MX Linux forum, over here and here. But in both of them the option is to use the leading/cutting edge release, i.e. ver 24.x, or the the mature release provided by Debian, i.e. ver 7.4.7.2 as on today. So as the wise Yoda said, Following Clarifications, is what I seek

I see this kind of question pop up fairly regularly here and in other places online. The general format is "I want to install software that the Debian/MX repositories don't have, what should I do?"

If you ask nicely you might be able to make a package request to the MX maintainers, as there are some unique packages and updates that MX offers outside of the normal Debian repositories.

Failing that, you can make a decision. You can either use the software that is provided in the official OS repositories, as you've mentioned backports tend to be a little fresher than main, or you can install the newest thing yourself and maintain it independently. There's nothing stopping you from doing that, but you have to accept that Debian as an OS does not strive to adopt the latest versions of software as soon as they are released. Staying on the cutting edge of tens of thousands of programs and utilities is just not a principle of the Debian Project and I doubt the volunteer maintainers want to spend every waking moment constantly pushing revisions. Throwing every patch you can find over the fence and hoping that everything will work itself out eventually is more of an Arch attitude.

There are other options you may be able to explore, including incorporating other package management solutions like Flatpak or Nix, but you're not going to benefit from the extensive compatibility testing that Debian performs when they publish an updated package. Do you like your system being stable? That doesn't come for free.

[LinuxSpring1]

I see this kind of question pop up fairly regularly here and in other places online. The general format is "I want to install software that the Debian/MX repositories don't have, what should I do?"

If you ask nicely you might be able to make a package request to the MX maintainers, as there are some unique packages and updates that MX offers outside of the normal Debian repositories.

Failing that, you can make a decision. You can either use the software that is provided in the official OS repositories, as you've mentioned backports tend to be a little fresher than main, or you can install the newest thing yourself and maintain it independently. There's nothing stopping you from doing that, but you have to accept that Debian as an OS does not strive to adopt the latest versions of software as soon as they are released. Staying on the cutting edge of tens of thousands of programs and utilities is just not a principle of the Debian Project and I doubt the volunteer maintainers want to spend every waking moment constantly pushing revisions. Throwing every patch you can find over the fence and hoping that everything will work itself out eventually is more of an Arch attitude.

How can one make a package request to the MX maintainers?
The leading/cutting edge of Libre office, i.e. ver 24.2.4-1 was released by Libre Office team on 03-Jun-2024. It was incorporated into Debian stable release on 19-Jun-2024. So less than a month. But the same was not done for mature release of LibreOffice. I can understand a delay of say 3-4 months or say even 6 months.
I am not looking for having bleeding edge of software packages like Arch.

There are other options you may be able to explore, including incorporating other package management solutions like Flatpak or Nix, but you're not going to benefit from the extensive compatibility testing that Debian performs when they publish an updated package. Do you like your system being stable? That doesn't come for free.

I get that, stability does come with some constraints. What is Nix?

Also if I were to install LibreOffice from say the Deb package file then how will the integration with the KDE desktop occur? Will I have to install the packages libreoffice-plasma, libreoffice-qt5 and libreoffice-kf5 to get the integration with KDE desktop and other applications done? Or will the configuration have to be done manually?

[DukeComposed]

How can one make a package request to the MX maintainers?

One reads the stickied package request thread and follows the directions.

[Jerry3904]

I just install from LO itself, we even have a Wiki entry on that that I just updated. Pretty simple process.

[LinuxSpring1]

I just install from LO itself, we even have a Wiki entry on that that I just updated. Pretty simple process.

Thanks for the post. A few questions.

Firstly where was the LibreOffice installed? Was it installed inside /usr/local or /usr/share or /opt or some other directory?

Secondly it is not clear that did you have or kept the LibreOffice that came by default with MX Linux and you installed LibreOffice from the deb package file. This implies that there are two or more versions of LibreOffice installed on the computer.
OR
Did you uninstall LibreOffice that came with MX Linux and then LibreOffice was installed from the deb package file. Can you please clarify on this?

Thirdly did the integration of LibreOffice with KDE Plasma work after it was installed from the deb package file? Or did you have to do something or carry some configuration steps out?

Fourth and final one are you still using LibreOffice that you had downloaded from LibreOffice website?

[Jerry3904]

Please just try it yourself and find out.

[siamhie]

If you install software outside of ANY distro's repo, you are expected to keep it up to date.

LibreOffice Version: 4:24.2.5-1~bpo12+1 found in the backports tab is stable. https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/libreoffice

[davidy]

Cool. I'm using ivanhc's github repo appimage which is also v24.2.5.2. It gives you options for how much or how little of it you want.

Code: Select all

 Please choose a LibreOffice edition:

 - STILL is slightly older but tested longer.
 - FRESH includes all the latest features.
 - BASIC only supports English (US and GB).
 - STANDARD includes English (US/GB), Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and 
   Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese 
   (BR/PT), Russian, and Spanish.
 - FULL includes all supported languages.

 1) Still-basic			2) Still-basic with manuals
 3) Still-standard		4) Still-standard with manuals
 5) Still-full			6) Still-full with manuals
 7) Fresh-basic			8) Fresh-basic with manuals
 9) Fresh-standard		10) Fresh-standard with manuals
 11) Fresh-full			12) Fresh-full with manuals

 Type a number from the above list and press ENTER: 7

Fresh basic is 278mb and I put the actual file on my 2nd hd so's to make backups as small as possible.

[aika]

Normally you could easily update the LibreOffice packages via the backport-tab in the mx-package-installer.

But in contrast to the latest Thunderbird and Firefox versions, LibreOffice-24.2 is mature:

Code: Select all

apt policy libreoffice24.2
libreoffice24.2:
  Installiert:           24.2.4.2-2
  Installationskandidat: 24.2.4.2-2
  Versionstabelle:
 *** 24.2.4.2-2 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

If you want a new download-version of LibreOffice, you'll need to do a thorough cleanup beforehand and remove all old LibreOffice packages
with mx-package-installer or terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo apt purge libreoffice* && sudo apt autoremove

Than download LibreOffice-24.2 => https://www.libreoffice.org/download/do ... lang=en-US

=> https://www.libreoffice.org/download/do ... .4&lang=de
For the latest download version 24, three download archives containing the .deb packages (installation package, language package, help package) must first be unpacked. Then open Terminal in the DEBS subfolders ( cd DEBS ) and enter the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

First with the installation package, then the same procedure for the language and help package - see my attached image ...

download/file.php?id=33059&mode=view


Moderator: image changed to link, please read the forum rules