LibreOffice 3.4.1 is Released! - How to Install it in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal?

The true GNU licensed office productivity software suite which was introduced not that long ago called LibreOffice is certainly gaining some momentum (when considering the frequent update "cycle" :D). For those of you who doesn't know much about this open source office suite, (GNU actually) it was created as a result of Oracle clashing with the formally known OpenOffice suite community after purchasing it from Sun Microsystem (well, Oracle actually own it!) sometime ago.

Since then the developers have been quite busy creating and fixing bugs in their attempt to making this the dominating cross-platform, true open source office suite, hopefully ;-). Few weeks ago LibreOffice released the version 3.4 which did bring some major changes (such as Unity menu support by default, etc) and yesterday they even released the latest version, 3.4.1.

Although this won't bring major features when comparing with the already existing 3.4 version but it does come with bug fixes thus LibreOffice developers advice the users to make the upgrade.

They also said that the next update would come around July by saying...

"It is safely for production need by most users - LibreOffice 3.4.2, available by the end of July, will target enterprise deployments."

According to their Fixes page it comes with some bug fixes such as added support for Oxygen icons, GTK system tray icon related bug fix, Keyboard navigation related issues, few .doc and .docx importing issues + a lot of other bug fixes as usual.

The Unity appindicator menu didn't work as expected with the previos 3.4 version... so let's hope that at least this time it'll work for most of us...

You can install LibreOffice 3.4.1 in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal by first removing the already installed one first.

To do that, open your Terminal and enter the below command.

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice-core

Although the next command may be optional depending on how you installed the existing the LibreOffice suite (you know whether you have the default installation - 3.3.x version that comes with the Ubuntu LiveCD or have already installed it manually, etc) ... but please do enter it, just in case ;-).

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice

Now download the archive file from here get the 64-bit version from here.

Now extract the content to somewhere (say your desktop). Then open that folder in your GNU/Linux Terminal and then you'll see a folder called "DEBS". Change (cd) directory to that "DEBS" folder in your Terminal and enter the below command.

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Now we have to make sure the office suite integrates well with your desktop (making the shortcuts, etc). To do that use the below two commands.

cd desktop-integration

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Yep that is. Now you've installed this amazing (and free :D) office productivity suite in Ubuntu Linux 11.04. Although the installation is much more easier with the PPA but they don't update it often enough... so you'll be better off with this manual method instead.

How To Install LibreOffice 3.4 in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal (Including 10.10/10.04))?

After the little "corruption" :) that took place in the office productivity software suite called OpenOffice or the community in general, almost all GNU/Linux operating systems are now switching or already shipping LibreOffiice (one of the best office suite for GNU/Linux, already :D) with their distributions. Starting with the version 11.04 in Ubuntu and Fedora Core 15, instead of the old OpenOffice we have Libre!.

And the latest news is that they've updated and released LibreOffice to the version 3.4 few hours ago!. The most easily noticeable thing with this update is the start up time. Although you may not notice a huge difference since LibreOffice is certainly faster than the OpenOffice yet.. it is starting to speed things up :).

Anyhow, starting with the usual bug fixes (around 8000!, what a "bug")... the 3.4 version does bring some noticeable improvements such as...

*. New drop shadow/gradient is added to the Writer (the default writing app).

*. Improved compability with ODF.

*. A faster and stable graphic "engine" is introduced.

*. A new/redesigned copy/paste/edit sheet dialog box for Calc.

*. Improve HTML export with an image thumbnail gallery for the Draw/Impress.

*. Unity global menu initial support is added!.

*. Faster text rendering.

These are handful of new features in this 3.4 release to mention. And if you want to install LibreOffice 3.4 final version in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal or 10.10/10.04 then you can add the below PPA to your system but they haven't released a the files yet, but I'm pretty sure you should be able to get it within the next few hours.

So open your Terminal and enter the below command which should install LibreOffice 3.4 in your Ubuntu OS when released (by the time you read this post, it could've been already released.. so try it).

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libreoffice

If you use Gnome classic desktop then use the below command afterward.

sudo apt-get install libreoffice-gnome

If you use KDE, then use the below one instead.

 sudo apt-get install libreoffice-kde

Manual installation of LibreOffice 3.4 (Ubuntu only) 

Note: All the below steps (from 1 to 11) are only required if you have installed LibreOffice software previously from the PPA or a manual installation. So, if you haven't done anything like that (let's learn Linux command line then :D) and have the system that comes with the Unity by default then use the below command and skip the first 5 "steps" and go the "6" th straight away.

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice-core

If you can't wait till they release the PPA of this amazing office suite for GNU/Linux (I totally understand :P) then you can manually install it.

1. First we have to remove the currently installed LibreOffice from Ubuntu. To do that, open your Terminal and enter the below command.

sudo synaptic

2. In the search box search for the below text.

libreoffice

3. Search for a package named "libreoffice3". Right click on it and choose "Mark for Complete Removal" and when prompted accept the additional changes.

4. Then scroll down until you see the above mentioned "libreoffice" package in Synaptic window and again right click on it and choose "Mark for Complete Removal". When asked, accept the additional changes.

5. Now click on the "Apply" button on Synaptic package manager and mark every single listed package for complete removal. And your current LibreOffice should be completely removed after that.

6. Now (not necessary but just reboot your PC, just in case) download the LibreOffice 3.4 .deb from here . If you use the 64-bit version, then get it from here. Now extract the content, say to your "desktop".

7. Open the extracted folder in Nautilus file manager (the folder should be called "LibO_3.4.0_Linux_x86_install-deb_en-US" ... or "LibO_3.4.0_Linux_x86_64_install-deb_en-US" for 64-bit version).

8. Now you should see a folder called "DEBS" in that extracted folder. Open that folder using your Terminal.

9. Then enter the below command in that opened Terminal window.

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

10. Now use the next command which will integrate the LibreOffice with your OS desktop (shortcuts, etc).

cd desktop-integration

11. Now the last part (if you're still with me :) ), use the below command which is the last of all commands :P.

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Now you should have LibreOffice 3.4 installed in Ubuntu 11.04/10.10 and 10.04, at last, and have learned a bit about GNU/Linux in 10 minutes (no worries, I'm also one of those Dummies as well :D).