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My thoughts on Slackware, life and everything

Tag: OOo (Page 5 of 11)

LibreOffice 5.3.4 packages for -current

June 25, 2017 / / 11 Comments

libreoffce_logoWhen looking for package updates in preparation for a new Slackware Live PLASMA5 edition, I noticed that the Document Foundation had released LibreOffice 5.3.4 without updating their blog with the news – it’s only mentioned on the download page.
I have built and uploaded Slackware-current packages for libreoffice-5.3.4. If you are on Slackware 14.2 you will probably have to skip this one, as I will not have time for compiling packages the coming weeks (allocates one virtual machine for one day per build, since I can only check on progress in the evenings).
The package for -current needed to be (re-)built anyway because of the library issue with Slackware’s updated libGLEW which prevented Impress to start.

Check out the LO releasenotes if you want:  https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/5.3.

The libreoffice packages for Slackware can be downloaded from a mirror like this one: http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/slackbuilds/libreoffice/.

Have fun! Eric

Last week’s package harvest and more

March 19, 2017 / / 14 Comments

Last week I made my build server at home churn through a lot of packages, let me summarize what became available recently in my slackbuilds repository:

  • I added ‘NetworkManager-openvpn‘ which is a plugin for NM adding support for OpenVPN connections. I needed this for myself since I recently started using the services of Private Internet Access (PIA). All I needed in addition was the ZIP file with OpenVPN configurations. If you need more instructions about how to setup the PIA VPN let me know and I will wrote some more about that. I also added this plugin to my PLASMA5 Live Edition.
  • I upgraded ‘Handbrake‘ to 1.0.3 which also fixed the libvpx library error on -current.
  • I updated the Flash Player plugins for Mozilla and Chromium browsers to 25.0.0.127 (this is a security update).
  • I updated Chromium and its Widevine plugin to 57.0.2987.98. There is a slightly newer release out already but that will have to wait a bit.
  • I updated LibreOffice to 5.3.1 (packages for -current only but I will build them for 14.2 too).

I did more than that; I also updated the front page of my ‘bear’ server with the information that you can access it over secure HTTP (https), and added a link to my post about the CACert issue with Mozilla and Google browsers. Furthermore I added more detail about the dynamically generated ISOs for Slackware-current (the installation DVD and the Live Edition).

I will spend my next post writing about the new KDE 5_17.03 edition which I uploaded to my ‘ktown’ repository, but let me mention here that I already uploaded a new PLASMA5 variant of the Slackware Live Edition which contains a “work in progress” version of this new Plasma 5 release (work in progress because I decided to add more packages later). I did not mention that in any previous post.
Along with that Plasma 5 Live ISO I also uploaded a variant containing the very fresh MATE 1.18 (thanks to Willy for providing me with the tried & tested packages). So there is enough to play with 🙂
I am actually considering a new spin of the PLASMA5 Live ISO because it allows me to offer the complete KDE-5_17.03 including the Kdenlive non-linear video editor in the Live OS, along with the latest LibreOffice.

Enough for now, check out my follow-up post for the news about my new Plasma 5 ‘ktown’ release.

Have fun! Eric

LibreOffice 5.3.0 for slackware-current

February 16, 2017 / / 13 Comments

libreoffce_logoIn a previous post I mentioned that  LibreOffice 5.3 was released the first of February. At that time, I provided you with a LibreOffice 5.2.5 package instead, because I was rebuilding the 5.2 packages anyway and usually I need a bit of research time to make new releases compile.

And indeed… I hit a snag along the road which initially prevented me from compiling 5.3.0 packages, but a patch was shared by orbea on the blog which pointed the way to solving my issue with harfbuzz. For your information, the Slackware version of harfbuzz is not compiled with graphite support (because Slackware does not have a package for graphite) and the new LibreOffice requires this – so my libreoffice package has to compile an internal version of harfbuzz.

As said previously on the blog, the new LibreOffice 5.3 series introduces Collaborative editing which to me is the major highlight. A Docker image is available if you want to experience LibreOffice Online on your own private server.
Better text rendering is another highlight, hence the new requirements for harfbuzz (which is used as the rendering engine).
A detailed description of new features was made available as a web page:  http://www.libreoffice.org/discover/new-features/.

Get my fresh libreoffice packages for Slackware-current from a mirror like this one: http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/slackbuilds/libreoffice/.

Note: the LibreOffice browser plugin (NPAPI based) has been removed in LibreOffice 4.4.0:  https://skyfromme.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/killing-the-npapi-plugin/

I also added LibreOffice 5.3.0 to a re-spin of my PLASMA5 Live ISO which I uploaded last night, so if you want to play with the new features in a safe environment, try it on Slackware Live Edition. I will write more about the new PLASMA5 ISO in another post.

As a closing remark, I advise you to read the statement issued by the Document Foundation on the intentions of the Munich City Counsel to replace their version of Linux (LiMux) and LibreOffice with MS Windows 10 and MS Office by 2021. A sad example of how behind-the-scene lobbying of Microsoft and its partners is threatening to overturn one of the most well-known Open Source success stories in Western Europe.

Cheers! Eric

Chromium 56, LibreOffice 5.2.5

February 1, 2017 / / 21 Comments

libreoffce_logoI had rebuilt the libreoffice-5.2.4 packages for Slackware -current last week, because library updates in Slackware had broken the spreadsheet application ‘localc‘. And voila… not long afterwards the Document Foundation blog announced 5.2.5: “all users are invited to update to LibreOffice 5.2.5 from LibreOffice 5.1.6 or previous versions“. Today on the first of february, we can even witness the 5.3 release.

A list of the most significant new features of LibreOffice 5.3 has been published in a separate document (http://tdf.io/lo53features) and you are invited to watch a series of short videos (http://tdf.io/53vids) if you want to get a taste of what’s on the plate. Collaborative editing is the major highlight I guess. A detailed description of these new features is also available as a web page:  http://www.libreoffice.org/discover/new-features/.

I am definitely not building packages right away for 5.3 but I did compile packages for 5.2.5 – albeit only for Slackware -current. I may or may not create these packages for Slackware 14.2 as well and then upgrade the -current package to 5.3. Depends on the other stuff I need to do.

These libreoffice packages are huge in size so please use a mirror for download, and take into account that only the master site and ‘bear’ will have the packages during the first 24 hours.

Note: the LibreOffice browser plugin (NPAPI based) has been removed in LibreOffice 4.4.0:  https://skyfromme.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/killing-the-npapi-plugin/

chromium_iconOn another note, Chromium (and Chrome) 56 ‘stable’ was released. It’s nice to test the HTML5 feature set on a site like HTML5test and see that it is at the top of all the browsers up there (517 points, only Chrome 56 for Windows scores better because it supports speech synthesis).

Packages for Slackware 14.2 and -current are now available from my repository. No ETA for Slackware 14.1 packages, and perhaps it is time for people still using Chromium on 14.1 to upgrade to 14.2?

As always, here are some common download sites:

Have fun! Eric

LibreOffice 5.2.4 packages

December 26, 2016 / / 30 Comments

libreoffce_logoMerry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you out there. Christmas came and went here in the Netherlands,  while the US still has some hours to go. Enjoy your turkey diners. I made a fresh batch of worstenbroodjes and they were yummy.
Anyway…
The computers worked frantically while I relaxed with my family. Slackware 14.2 and -current packages are ready for LibreOffice 5.2.4. Enjoy the newest version of this highly popular office suite.
According to the announcement on the Document Foundation blog , this 5.2.4 release marks a new stable LibreOffice (the developers call this “still” rather than “stable”), replacing the stable 5.1.x releases:
“LibreOffice 5.2.4 “still” <…> all users can start to update to LibreOffice 5.2.4 from LibreOffice 5.1.6 or previous versions“.

Get the LibreOffice packages preferably from one of the mirrors because of the package size, and take into account that only the master site and ‘bear’ will have the packages during the first 24 hours:

Note: the LibreOffice browser plugin (NPAPI based) has been removed in LibreOffice 4.4.0: https://skyfromme.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/killing-the-npapi-plugin/

Have fun! Eric

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