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LibreOffice 5.1 Officially Released

Posted by timothy on from the good-gets-better dept.

prisoninmate writes: After being in development for the last three months or so, LibreOffice 5.1 comes today to a desktop environment near you with some of the most attractive features you've ever seen in an open-source office suite software product, no matter the operating system used. The release highlights of LibreOffice 5.1 include a redesigned user interface for improved ease of use, better interoperability with OOXML files, support for reading and writing files on cloud servers, enhanced support for the ODF 1.2 file format, as well as additional Spreadsheet functions and features. Yesterday, even with the previous version, I was able to successfully use a moderately complex docx template without a hitch — the kind of thing that would have been a pipe-dream not too long ago.

3 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What do you mean... by steveha · · Score: 5, Informative

    "redesigned user interface for improved ease of use"?

    You might try watching the demo videos. They made improvements to the menus, improvements to the context menus, and improvements to toolbars (including a pop-out side panel formatting toolbar thing that I guess is new to the 5.x series).

    No ribbon.

    Here, have a playlist URL that lets you watch the demo videos directly from YouTube instead of using the embedded videos in TFA.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0pdzjvYW9RHSwdRnZfaxAWICrkBrQl7k

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
  2. Re:What do you mean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Is this why debian stable is stuck on LO 4.x? Oh wait, that's just the usual Linux BS where you're not allowed to have new apps unless you meticulously install it from the command line and take responsibility for updating it by hand.

    Debian stable is really meant more for a server than for a desktop, as in "a stable (albeit a little stagnant), well-tested, and rock-solid platform where you can run an application for years without unwelcome surprises creeping into the underlying software stack or into the environment in general." Servers and desktops have different needs.

    If you want a desktop environment, maybe consider running a Debian-based distro that pulls responsibly from Debian Testing or Sid, or better yet, an Ubuntu LTS based system where you can use PPAs to grab fresher versions of applications. If you want more cutting edge than that consider running non-LTS Ubuntu versions or go to Fedora, accepting more frequent OS upgrades. If you really want the hot metal that has barely even solidified yet, look to Arch.

  3. Re:What do you mean... by Burz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Oops! From the readme:
    --
    As a general rule, you are recommended to install LibreOffice via the installation methods recommended by
      your particular Linux distribution (such as the Ubuntu Software Center, in the case of Ubuntu Linux). Th
    is is because it is usually the simplest way to obtain an installation that is optimally integrated into
    your system. Indeed, LibreOffice may well be already installed by default when you originally install you
    r Linux operating system.

    This "stand-alone" LibreOffice installer is provided for users in need of previews, having special needs,
      and for out-of-the-ordinary cases.
    --

    They recommend against direct user installs! Who knew?! And BTW, to most people your 'easy' command line install looks like you had an epileptic seizure at your keyboard.

    Oh, almost forgot to mention... You just installed unsigned code.