How to install OpenOffice.org 3 on Ubuntu 8.10

Ubuntu is coming by default with OpenOffice 2.4, so, I decided to upgrade to version 3. To do this, there are two methods, either install it from “http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main deb” repository or manually from files directly downloaded on the OpenOffice web site. I started by trying the installation from the repository because it’s much simpler.

Here is how:

First method :

First, we need to remove OpenOffice 2.4 from our computer:

sudo apt-get --purge remove openoffice.org-core

After, we must add the repository “deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main” without the quotes to the file “/etc/apt/sources.list”. You can use gedit, kate or your favorite text editor like this:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

or

kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

We now need to add the public key of the repository :

sudo wget http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/files_blog/key_ppa_office
sudo apt-key add key_ppa_office

Once done, we must update the repository list and do the installation:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install openoffice.org

The installation went well for me. But, OOo (openoffice.org) didn’t appear in the menu. So, I tried to run it using the command “openoffice.org3″ or “openoffice” but nothing happens.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to install it manually from the openoffice web site. If for you, OOo works, lucky you are! You can stop here!

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Second method :

I started by removing the repository that I have previously added to my repository list. Simply delete the line that was added at the beginning of this article.

Then, download OOo from their web site.

Here are the commands to download it, if the links doesn’t works, go on their web site:

French 32-bit version:

wget http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Office/OpenOffice.org/localized/fr/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_fr_deb.tar.gz

French 64-bit version:

wget http://ftp.kddilabs.jp/office/openoffice/localized/fr/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxX86-64_install_fr_deb.tar.gz

English 32-bit version:

wget http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Office/OpenOffice.org/stable/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

English 64-bit version:

wget http://mirrors.evolva.ro/openoffice.org/stable/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxX86-64_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

Once downloaded, we must extract it:

tar -xvmf OOo_3.0.1_Linux*_install_*_deb.tar.gz

We then proceeded to the installation from the DEBS folder:

cd OOO300_m15_native_*/DEBS/
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
cd desktop-integration/
sudo dpkg -i *.deb

And so OOo3 is installed! Unfortunately, for my part, it wasn’t added to the menu by itself, so I had to run the following command:

openoffice.org3

By against, at the start, it crashed instantly and it tried to recover in a loop without stopping. I got the following error message:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'com::sun::star::uno::RuntimeException'

To correct this, simply delete the parameter folder of OOo in the home folder like this:

sudo rm -rf ~/.openoffice.org

The next time you start OOo, just say no when asked if you want to import your personal data from openoffice2 and manually enter them when they will ask for.

Good use of openoffice.org 3!