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LibreOffice 5.4 Adds More New Features, Improves Office File Format Compatibility (betanews.com)
The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 5.4. Again, it's on time, arriving six months after the release of LibreOffice 5.3. From a report: LibreOffice 5.4 is "the last major release of the LibreOffice 5.x family," and like other point releases is a major one, adding features across all components and incrementally improving compatibility with Microsoft Office document formats. Highlights include a new standard color palette based on the RYB (Red Yellow Blue) color model. File format compatibility improvements include better support for EMF vector images and higher quality rendering of imported PDF files (with support for embedding video in exported PDFs from Writer and Impress). Also added is OpenPGP key support for signing ODF documents in Linux. LibreOffice Writer adds new context menu items for working with sections, footnotes, endnotes and styles. Users can now import AutoText entries from Microsoft Word .dotm templates. The full structure of bulleted and numbered lists is now preserved when pasted as plain text, and users gain the ability to create custom watermarks for their documents via the Format menu.
It also lacks an init system, a mail server, a DNS resolver, a process monitor, an ssh client and an init system.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
It also lacks an init system, a mail server, a DNS resolver, a process monitor, an ssh client and an init system.
I'm fairly certain it can send e-mail already, and I wouldn't be surprised if it offers sshfs support through fuse, or have plans for it in the next release.
Give it time, and it will surely have all of the above. At the expense of being able to do simple work in a timely manner.
Since I can use it on a eeepc netbook I can't see where your speed complaints are coming from.
It kind of looks like you are making them up unless you are using it on hardware from last century.
So it's not quite equal to emacs yet?
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Having a thesaurus integrated is a near must for a writer. And most publishing houses don't take typeset - they want to do that part themselves, at least if you're not a famous author with lots of clout.
An ideal writer's program is one that is chapter-oriented and doesn't impose the tyranny of pages. With good support for version control, footnotes, internal notes, syllabus and other indices, a searchable bin to toss snippets and outtakes in, but most of all, one that doesn't lag behind. Libreoffice is probably the most laggy program out there, closely followed by Word. The problem is most manifest whenever you hit the artificial "page" boundary, especially if you edit the start or middle of a book, and it needs to recalculate all following "pages".
Scrivener isn't bad, but it's only for Windows.
I'd pay good money to get something similar for Linux.
Haha you came back to respond as an AC? Two can play at that game!
For the record, two can, but two didn't. The above was not posted by me. (You'll never see me use words like "Haha" or frivolous exclamation marks.)
Are you actually talking about Open Office or go-OO or the newer Libreofice? or are you trying to conflate a decade old issue to tarnish a modern product?
The original Sun OpenOffice download for a number of reasons (like Sun) was a slower than the patched go-OO version which was used by the major Linux distributions. It had a reputation for being glacial in comparison, and go-OO wasn't fast by any means, Apache have really hardly started fixing this yet.
Go-OO and early Libreofice still had a number of quite significant problems with file loading as well as graphics performance due to Sun's tendency to want to leave working code alone or patch minimally even when it worked poorly or got in the way. The early part of Liberofice 's history involved tearing a lot of cruft out, as such many of the most blatant issues where fixed quite early but many remain. For an example see https://people.gnome.org/~michael/blog/2012-01-09-unused.html , but much used and outdated code was also a problem.
Newer Libreofce is significantly faster, removal and replacement of a lot of old manual timer stuff for GUI events, for example (along with a lot of other work), has made things snappier to use. Performance profiling and upgrading of the input filters has progressed to the point that for my small documents loading is effectively instant and start-up is less than 1 second on my old machine. Despite this speed is still dependant on OS, and the specific document loaded. It is not unusual for the newer versions of Libreofice to be better than Microsoft Office in speed but it is also not unusual to be worse. In addition some windows graphics performance upgrades will have to wait on the deprecation of XP.
Okay, so assuming you're correct and current Libre versions still take 3 seconds to paste (in your use case) and 10 seconds to open the book you're writing. Well, then Libre may not be for you. Or... rather than spend a hundred bucks or so for MSOffice, you could plow that into a higher spec'd machine that runs Libre okay for you. Presumably you have some desire to run it - or you wouldn't be commenting here. Or you have some desire to use Linux, but the lack of MSOffice is holding you back - in which case, I'd suggest using WINE with whatever version of MSOffice runs well under it and meets your requirements (which apparently don't include the latest whiz-bang features, so you're in luck).
But for many of us an open source fully functional office suite is an important thing to support. Presumably color schemes and the like are handled by different developers than the core functionality that we all agree is more important - so both can proceed together. From my perspective, native ports to iOS and Android are more important than either at this point.
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
Scrivener was originally a Mac product, so it's not just for Windows. I'd bet that it wouldn't be difficult to get it running in WINE or a VM of some sort. Even in a VM it might be snappier than LibreOffice.
It actually is snappier in a VM than LibreOffice is natively - I use Scrivener in a VMware WIndows guest sometimes. But it'd be nice to have something native, and not have to import/export through the extra pain of VMs. I haven't tried whether it'll work through WINE, but that might be worth trying - good thinking!
or _any_ Office suite? They're all boated with features. That's the point. They're crammed with features so you can make complex documents. Go use Abiword & gnumerics if you want something simple.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
What kills Libreoffice is bloat and feeping creaturitis.
Nothing "kills" Libreoffice. It is a staple feature of any Linux installation, widely used on Windows, and a credible threat to Necrosoft's cozy monopoly.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Nothing "kills" Libreoffice. It is a staple feature of any Linux installation, widely used on Windows, and a credible threat to Necrosoft's cozy monopoly.
Libreoffice is also cited as the main reason why the city of Munich decided to revert to Microsoft Windows and Office after three years - people who complained about severe issues related to software rose from 15% with Microsoft Office to 18-28% with Libreoffice.
Not that I think that was the right move, but Libreoffice unfortunately isn't a "just works" product for everybody.
...stop crashing my file explorer in Windows 7 with their crappy API hooks.
What kills LibreOffice is that no one uses a desktop office suite anymore. Google Docs does everything 99% of people need and you don't have to worry about where your files are, unless you're some kind of weird basement troll. And even then you can just back them up regularly.
What's the point of typing in a letter, while handwriting the envelope? An envelope, for you millennials out there, is a paper case in which one can put letters, write the destination address on the front, put a stamp on it (which is a Post Office issued marker to indicate that the service has been paid for) and then drop it in a dropbox near your mailbox or take it to the post office and post it there. This is how it was done before email got as widely adapted as it is today
You can get a 64-bit version of LibreOffice, but you have to select it at the download page. On my system it starts much faster and handles large documents perfectly.
Dear LibreOffice,
Please add the following feature: fixing bugs. Every bug I ever reported is designated "enhancement request." There it sits, for years, decades, centuries, while new features, like emoji creation submodules, aperitif selection menus, and lace curtains are added.
It's document paradigm is a "paragraph". In TeX/LaTeX you can structure a document in chapters and sections and subsections. Doesn't work in Libre. In Libre everything is a friggin paragraph. When you try to create a proper document with Libre, it makes you fuss around with low level details that aren't needed in in more intelligent document systems.
Libre is OK for memos and a short articles.
wrong, most businesses use microsoft office as the main office suite. And more companies use Microsoft's cloud offering than google's, look it up.
Plucked? or unplucked?
I've had much more luck since I stopped plucking them. The feathers have a vibe of their own I think.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
let's talk about human beings.
10 million google doc users versus 1.2 billion MS office users.
Microsoft employee = fake news.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
You seem to be confused. Where did I say more people used Google Docs? Read the thread again, carefully.
as much as I detest MS and Windows, I'm still tied to it because the FOSS apps are really nice, but not quite good enough
Whatever works for you - some people just seem ok with hitting themselves on the head with a hammer. For the vast majority of casual office suite users, Libreoffice is in fact good enough. Actually, Libreoffice is better in many subtle ways. Have you ever noticed how seriously cut and paste sucks in Excel?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I've been using LIbreOffice and previously OpenOffice for over 5 years now for writing requirements and system documentation. One of the features that is seriously confusing and frustrating is how outline numbering and heading numbering works (or doesn't). Near as I can figure there are 2 subsystems/modules to handle numbering: one for bullet/list numbering, and the other for headings, and they don't play well together.
Apparently that's changed since OO. I don't have any page numbering lag issues and I'm not one who starts page one and writes to end. I jump all over the place.
As well as a dictionary and (for OO & LO) secondary dictionaries you get ot populate specific to your writing with auto-correct keyed to them.
Well, you started with "What kills LibreOffice is that no one uses a desktop office suite anymore." which is factually incorrect. (no one includes businesses) Perhaps you could cite for us which applications are more used.
Is English not your first language? Do you think I literally meant that NO ONE uses desktop office suites?
English is MY first language, and as a result I can clearly see that you DID in fact SAY 'What kills LibreOffice is that no one uses a desktop office suite anymore.' Direct quote.
You may not have meant that literally, fair enough, but you SAID it, and therefore it's not unreasonable to think that you MEANT it. If you want people to understand your point, try to make it consistent...
I was bored and feeling helpful. Winehq gives it gold and platinum ratings, depending on the version.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Yay, good news.
I don't mind using commercial software when it provides something open source doesn't do. Would I prefer Open Source? Absolutely. But I prefer productivity even more.
Thanks! I can uninstall abiword soon then (or only use it for quick format conversions).
Apparently that's changed since OO. I don't have any page numbering lag issues and I'm not one who starts page one and writes to end. I jump all over the place.
If that's improved, it's a good thing! I remember writing in the middle of a "page" and every time I caused a line break, it would push the bottom line off the page and cause a 1+ second delay, and even more if there were plenty of pages until the next hard break.
The lagging of OO.o was pretty much why I switched to abiword back in the days; despite abiword being horrible in many other ways, it was always much more responsive.
aoo is just better
In September 2016, OpenOffice's project management committee chair Dennis Hamilton began a discussion of possibly discontinuing the project, after the Apache board had put them on monthly reporting due to the project's ongoing problems handling security issues
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
>
By "book", do you mean literally a book, with hundreds of pages? 10 seconds are kind of an eternity in current technology. I'd suggest an SSD drive if you're facing such problems.
Yeah, book with hundreds of "pages", or in the 100 kword ballpark is typically what I work on.
I just tested it on the latest "stable" libreoffice version for my distro, 5.2.7.2, and it took around 5 seconds to open a plain text file that size, and 8 seconds for a document file, on a i7-4600U laptop with SSD. If it had been on my other laptop with an i5 and HDD, it would have been more than 10 seconds.
The problem is that it continues "loading" and doesn't render the first page (or last edited page) and give control to the user while loading the rest in the background. It appears to want to parse ALL of it before displaying SOME of it, which is a design flaw in my opinion.
It would be a nice thing to have a open standard for marking up and defining the such structures within the text files itself which every office package and production system of the publishers would understand and choose their own, preferred method of presentation to the user.
Like SGML, you mean?
Unfortunately, it never caught on due to what seems to be NIH Syndrome for the market leaders at the time, like Word/QuarkExpress/WordPerfect. Can't encourage lock-ins and anti-competitive practice with open standards.
"It also lacks an init system, a mail server, a DNS resolver, a process monitor, an ssh client and an init system."
.. really funny :)
Haa haaaa
I don't know, he might have something to bitch about. It took me over a minute to open a 50,805 page document in libreoffice 5.3, 230mb file. Lord knows what I would do if I had to open a serous document ....
Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but on another note. I did just now open a 50,000 page log file. While it did take it over a minute to open and display that file, but 50,000 pages. That is damn impressive.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
I turned around and loaded the same document in to Word 2016. Word crashed. :)
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
The problem is that it continues "loading" and doesn't render the first page (or last edited page) and give control to the user while loading the rest in the background. It appears to want to parse ALL of it before displaying SOME of it, which is a design flaw in my opinion.
Yes, I can actually see where this could be a design flaw. I just loaded a random log file in to libreoffice to see if it could handle it. The log file was over 50,000 pages long. While I was actually impressed that it could load the file at all, I did notice it took it several more minutes before I could actually do anything with the file. Libreoffice seemed to want to format the tire file in memory before letting me access any of it.
While I don't work on documents every day of even a few 100 pages, I could see where this process could be frustrating if you had to do it all day. It may only add a few seconds to your work time but to a professional that few seconds can add up very quickly.
But at least libreoffice did load and handle the 50,000 page document. After it got through loading and formatting I found that it to be quiet responsive. I was even able to search and replace in the file with a good response time. On the other page Word 2016 loaded the file and I was able to start work in it almost instantly, but promptly crashed when I paged into the file.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Saving the file also takes time -- and this has a greater impact than loading, because we usually load just once and save several times to avoid losing edits.
Saving should never be a problem, at least not on any semi-modern system. Any good design would do the actual save in the background at low priority, allowing you to continue working the moment you initiate the save. One shortcut for save and one for committed (foreground) save covers when you want to wait for the save, like when you need to feed the document into something after it has completed saving. It's not uncommon that "Save As" doubles as a committed save.
Backgrounded saving[*] is not hard to implement in this type of program, where there already is a journal of changes to support undo/redo functions and internal version control. Asynchronous error reporting (that preferably doesn't steal focus, like Microsoft programs tend to do) can be the biggest part of extra code.
[*]: Not to be confused with background saving, which alas has come to mean automated saving.
exactly, use latex.
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
LibreOffice, after these many years, still has many problems. Here is an example of a very basic one: at least on macOS, it does not properly render text, leaving unevenly-spaced characters within some words—one letter will appear e.g. too far to the right, colliding with the character to the right, while leaving a too-large space to the left. It is ugly and impedes reading.
The Writer component, continues to be essentially worthless for technical writing. Its rendering of inline math leaves giant white space to both the left and right sides of math. It has no idea how to break equations across line breaks of inline math. It does not correctly reduce the height of inline equations. I can't help but notice that the entire 50+page user's guide to the math typesetting function doesn't once display an inline equation. And Write has no ability whatsoever to intelligently place figures and tables—they are treated simply as giant characters.
To test loading a long-ass file in LibreOffice, like he said?
exactly, use latex.
Yeah, I know that a lot of people throw out LaTeX as a joke, but for me... it's absolutely true.
I honestly love WordPerfect though. It's outperformed MSWord since practically day one and is still worth buying most especially how the design is just functionally better.
But, so far, WP doesn't work with WINE or I think Crossover, I am forced to use a VM which I'd rather not use for one program. So, in the end, for any document I want to work properly and look elegant and professional, I just use LaTeX.
"A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book