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KDE's Calligra Office Suite For Android Released

Posted by timothy on from the nose-under-the-tent dept.

jrepin writes "Coffice is a new project that tries to make KDE's Calligra office suite available on mobile platforms like Android, Blackberry 10, Jolla SailfishOS and Ubuntu Phone. Calligra already has some presence on smartphones, since document viewer on Nokia N9 is based on it. The first release brings Calligra Words viewer for OpenDocument Text documents and is currently available for Android only. Plans for later releases include viewers for spredsheets and presentations. Editing and saving as well as support for proprietary Microsoft Office formats are coming later."

39 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is a shame that there still isn't a stable version for OSX.

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    What do you know I wrote a novel
    1. Re:OSX would be nice... by ArhcAngel · · Score: 4, Informative

      Just install KDE on your MAC and run it native! Sure, you have compile it from source but think of the satisfaction you'll feel every time you fire up your office suite...

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    2. Re:OSX would be nice... by mnajem9960 · · Score: 1

      Mac works best with another office suit.

    3. Re:OSX would be nice... by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The primary aspect that sets computer text comprehension apart from humans' is that computers have trouble understanding context.
      You've just made the gap a bit smaller.

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    4. Re:OSX would be nice... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      Not only did normal people understand what was meant by "mac", so did you but being a fussbudget of the picayune you felt compelled to whine about it anyway. Get help.

    5. Re:OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 2

      When I am offered ice cream I don't want to be handed rock salt and milk and told to churn it myself :)

      More to the point, yes while I am capable to compiling it and running it myself, though I would feel annoyance every time I launched it, I said I wanted a stable version. Not an experimental version, nor an unstable version; and that is all we have now. That is all we have had for years now.

      It is lovely they are pushing the bounds and porting to Android, I just with they would either produce a stable OSX build, or stop claiming OSX support on the main page, because right now all they are giving me is rock salt...

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
    6. Re:OSX would be nice... by bjwest · · Score: 1

      Who do you think started this whole PC/MAC thing to begin with? They're all PCs, but only some of them are MACs.

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    7. Re:OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 2

      Also can I introduce you to this little gem:

      Krita needs to disable OpenGL in Preferences.

      That is not acceptable. And just how many YEARS has the OSX build been unstable and experimental? I have lost count.

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
    8. Re:OSX would be nice... by ingwa · · Score: 1

      Since it's not acceptable we are very happy to receive your contributions here. Most progress is achieved by people who think that something is not acceptable. Seriously, I wonder what gives you this sense of entitlement. Everybody who works on Calligra is a volunteer except for the few hired by KO GmbH in Germany who provide support for Calligra. But they are doing the bidding of their customers, who apparently haven't seen fit yet to pay for a mac port. So in this case it's either put up or wait until somebody with more initiative creates a package on the Mac.

    9. Re:OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 1

      I do and continue to write and contribute to open source projects. But I they have to be on subjects I care about and use.

      The problem here is that I can't even use Calligra to know if I might want to contribute — and push something else off that list, there are only so many hours I can devote to non paying work.

      The OpenGL thing just belies a systemic problem that makes me far too nervous to even try Calligra — ie what other lovely little time-bombs are in there? Also if this is such a known issue why in the hell can't Kitra detect the platform at startup and disable OpenGL support then? That just belies an immaturity to the port, that makes me very nervous.

      And it isn't like this is a new problem, KDE and then Calligra have claimed to have a OSX port for literally years now, but every time I go to take a look I am offered sour milk and rock salt. I am not going to contribute to something I have no idea if it is stable enough to use. The FLOSS mantra of "you can fix that yourself" only carries so much water in this regard.

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
    10. Re:OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 1

      Well and that is why I use Microsoft Office. Not being a troll, but honestly it is the one I work with best. I still can't round trip documents with even moderately complex formatting in [Open|Libra|Neo]Office with any consistency. Pages is lovely and I use it when I need to do something a little more DTP like, but I wouldn't want to write a novel in it. And AbiWord is a) not up to my needs, and b) was more or less abandoned on OSX a good while ago.

      I would love another option to try. I don't hate MS (or office), but it would be nice to have some genuine competition in the office suite space. I do a lot of writing (fiction, essays, technical, business) and thus have higher end needs than most, I am the first to admit that.

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
    11. Re:OSX would be nice... by ingwa · · Score: 1
      Ok, I see what you mean.

      The problem is actually not so much running on OSX, which works, but that nobody has yet created a good package. I'm not myself familiar with packaging for OSX so I can't say for sure what's holding it up. I just know that so far there have been problems when people tried.

    12. Re:OSX would be nice... by jockm · · Score: 1

      No the problem is that the port is labeled experimental and they themselves say it hasn't been tested; AND it is rocksalt and milk (IE you have to make it yourself). I only have so much time in my day to contribute to open source projects. So I am not going to go install Linux and Calligra just to see if it is worth giving a try. I am more than capable of compiling the suite myself, but I have better things to do than spend time on that just to see if I might like it. Especially with that OpenGL thing, which implies a deem immaturity to the port.

      The problem is that after roughly half a decade Calligra has been unable to excite any interest from the OSX community. I have yet to see a compelling reason why I should as well.

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
  2. Don't knock yourselves out on proprietary compat by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

    I can see some kind of aftermarket converter for non-standard documents; but, I really don't see a need to support proprietary documents. New platforms like mobile devices should force the older desktop model to conform to them, imho.

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  3. OpenOffice by markdavis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Although this sounds interesting, what would be more useful for me would be OpenOffice/LibreOffice on Android.

    http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/03/libreoffice-for-android-frustratingly-close-to-release/
    http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Android
    http://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/11985/is-libreoffice-4-available-for-android/

    1. Re:OpenOffice by JabberWokky · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You do realize that this uses the exact same file format? Since the interface is necessarily going to change between a phone or tablet interface and a desktop program, just pretend this is LibreOffice on Android and you'll be good.

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    2. Re:OpenOffice by nazsco · · Score: 1

      They say odt format is not available yet (with a typo missing the "not" on the store no less)

    3. Re:OpenOffice by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      They say odt format is not available yet (with a typo missing the "not" on the store no less)

      According to Google Play, it's the exact opposite: "only OpenDocument Text documents (ODT) are supported".

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    4. Re:OpenOffice by loufoque · · Score: 1

      What matters is not file formats, but the rendering engine.

    5. Re:OpenOffice by ingwa · · Score: 2

      The Calligra rendering engine is actually very good. Nokia put a lot of effort into Calligra to make it a super good document viewer for their N900 and N9 MeeGo phones. This includes all MS Office formats (doc/docx, xls/xlsx, ppt/pptx). Heck, Calligra supports more of docx than MS own embedded office versions. And it's much better than any other free offering, including OpenOffice or LibreOffice, when it comes to viewing.

  4. Re:Don't knock yourselves out on proprietary compa by blackraven14250 · · Score: 1

    Ok, so make an office suite that's free but doesn't support the format used in the majority of the business world. That won't cause the suite to be marginalized at all in favor of other free or paid suites that *just work* for the people who actually have a need to read documents created by Word users everywhere.

  5. spellcheck by 1u3hr · · Score: 4, Funny

    viewers for spredsheets and presentations

    But apparently no spellchecker. Not that anyone at Slashdot uses one.

    1. Re:spellcheck by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      You might be interested to know that "spred" is indeed an archaic form of the present-day "spread"; it is therefore not a mispelling.

  6. Nice to be off the cloud by nazsco · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Finally a office suite not forcing me to store all mydata on their servers.

    Though be warned, it will download some 20mb of qt libraries. On my nexus one, this raises the bar on if i can even have the app by a huge margin

  7. The Benefit of KOffice/Calligra by Zombie+Ryushu · · Score: 2

    The KOffice/Calligra applications serve absolutely indispensable use: Kvivio/Draw. It got me though my Four Cisco CCNA Classes when I was in university. It is a Visio diagramming program that at least partly can replaces Visio.

    1. Re:The Benefit of KOffice/Calligra by loufoque · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of other diagram drawing software, many of which not Qt-based.

    2. Re:The Benefit of KOffice/Calligra by Noughmad · · Score: 2

      Why do you say that as if being Qt-based were a bad thing?

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    3. Re:The Benefit of KOffice/Calligra by jayrulez · · Score: 1

      No, it's not.

  8. Re:'Callibra Office Suite released' ? I think not. by Teun · · Score: 1

    What is your problem comprehending the first words of the summary; 'Coffice is a new project that tries'?
    How do you read it as a ready to use project?

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  9. Not so suite news by The+Infamous+Grimace · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The title implies a full office suite; at this point it's just a doc viewer. Let me know when 'Sheets' is ready; I could use a decent spreadsheet app for my Nexus 7, and Kingsoft doesn't do it for me.

    --
    Ignorance and prejudice and fear
    Walk hand in hand
    1. Re:Not so suite news by friesandgravy · · Score: 1

      Try E-Droid-Cell pro. Clunky, but, featured, it has been very solid for me.

    2. Re:Not so suite news by ingwa · · Score: 1

      Sebastian said to me that the next milestones after getting the thing working at all was:
      - Adding doc and docx import filters
      - Add spreadsheet support
      - Add presentation support

  10. Coffice? by Freggy · · Score: 2

    And finally we got rid of this terrible KOffice name, and now they call this Coffice? What was wrong with Calligra Mobile?

    1. Re:Coffice? by PuZZleDucK · · Score: 1

      CalligraMobileOffice ... See that wasn't so hard :p

      --
      Can a person program a new solution to a problem? Why should anyone be able to stop such a thing? -Richard Stallman
    2. Re:Coffice? by ingwa · · Score: 1
      Not "they". Sebastian Sauer. He has made a truly remarkable job by porting the Calligra engine to Android in 2-3 weeks. But it's not an officially released suite (or even application) yet by the Calligra community. I'm sure that it will be, but it's not yet.

      Btw, the Calligra Active group, who is working on the tablet edition of Calligra, have started to create QML components of the word processor, spreadsheet and presentation modules. For those you who are not into Qt and QML development, this means that you will be able to embed, say, a spreadsheet into your application by just adding an include file. This is the power of Qt.

    3. Re:Coffice? by ingwa · · Score: 1
      But it doesn't. :)

      Calligra is an application suite with some applications that are office applications and some that aren't. Krita, for instance, is not an office application, it's a paint application for professional artists. In fact, before Krita created its own website (krita.org) the spread of it was hampered by its association to the office applications.

  11. New ecosystem taking shape by gmuslera · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Targetting a bunch of mobile platforms at once is one of the biggest advantages of QT/QML. Having a key app as Calligra in all of them not just gives base to the new mobile platforms, but also extend the ecosystem to Android, as a lot of people will have the libraries installed, making more attractive to develop for it.

  12. Re:'Callibra Office Suite released' ? I think not. by ingwa · · Score: 1

    I think you are mixing two things: Using the Calligra engine for a viewer (which is excellent) and the Calligra Suite for desktop (which is indeed somewhat buggy). But it's already much much better. Besides, note that this is not the Calligra community doing something. It's one individual who has released an Android viewer (alpha quality right now) based on the Calligra engine (stable). I can't say anything about how fast the full package will be extended or stabilized but the underlying engine is already very good.

  13. Letter K? by Tarlus · · Score: 1

    Given KDE's naming schemes, I'm surprised that they didn't call this Kalligra.

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