Update OpenOffice.org in Ubuntu

Update / Install OpenOffice.org 2.4 in Ubuntu

Note: Ubuntu Gutsy comes with Openoffice 2.4 already installed. It has been reported that the Openoffice.org that you get from Openoffice.org website has more features than the one Ubuntu installs.

So you want to upgrade your OpenOffice.org to the latest (Version 2.4 as of this writing) for Ubuntu? Ubuntu comes pre-installed with Version 2.0 for Edgy Version 2.2 for Feisty and Version 2.3 for Gutsy. The new Hardy has OpenOffice 2.4 preinstalled. The newer 2.4 version is faster and has better compatibility for Microsoft Office files. You will need to go to www.openoffice.org website and downlaod the latest installation. Once you download the installation you will notice that it is a .tar.gz. Here is a procedure to get the new OpenOffice.org installed on Ubuntu.

The new Openoffice.org 2.4 now comes in .deb installation files. The older installations used the .rpm files which needed to be converted using Alien.

I have a script that automates the process for Edgy, Feisty and Gutsy. Go my tools page here to get the installation script. The script DOES NOT install a JRE so you will need to make sure a JRE is installed.

If you wish to go through the steps for yourself then follow on. This procedure assumes you have a working internet connection.

Go to the synaptic package manager and uninstall the old OpenOffice. This can be done by searching for openoffice.org and then right mouse click and select "Mark for Complete Removal" on all the boxes that are green that appear next to openoffice.org. You can also uninstall Openoffice.org by typing or copy and paste the following in a terminal:

sudo apt-get -y remove openoffice.org openoffice.org-base openoffice.org-calc openoffice.org-common openoffice.org-core openoffice.org-draw openoffice.org-evolution openoffice.org-filter-mobiledev openoffice.org-gnome openoffice.org-gtk openoffice.org-help-en-us openoffice.org-impress openoffice.org-java-common openoffice.org-l10n-common openoffice.org-l10n-en-gb openoffice.org-l10n-en-za openoffice.org-math openoffice.org-style-human openoffice.org-writer

We will need to install the Java Runtime Environment. If you don't have a JRE installed then do the following in a terminal.

sudo apt-get -y install sun-java5-bin sun-java5-jre sun-java5-jdk sun-java5-fonts sun-java5-plugin
This will install the JRE, Java fonts, Java SDK, and the Firefox plugin.

Download Openoffice.org 2.4 installation for Linux from openoffice.org website. Click here to download Openoffice.org 2.4 without the JRE.
Select a folder to place the installation archive.
Once downloaded you will need to open a terminal to the folder where the file was downloaded.
You will then need to unpack the .tar.gz by using the following command:

tar -vxzf OOo_2.4.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz
Substitute the real filename you downloaded.
You can alternately double click the .tar.gz and Archive Manager will come up.

This will create a folder titled OOH680_m12_native_packed-1_en-US.9286.
Change to that folder.
There will be a folder called DEBS, change to that folder.
We can now install OpenOffice by typing the following command at the terminal:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Once all the .deb files are installed there is one more step.
If you so desire, you will need to then install the debian menu .deb package in the desktop-integration folder. If you don't you can still get OpenOffice up and running by typing soffice at the terminal.
Remember the old version of OpenOffice had icons in the Applications-->Office menu? We can get those back for you.
Change to the desktop-integration folder and look for a .deb file named openoffice.org-debian-menus_2.4-9268_all.deb. There should only be one .deb file in this folder.
Once you find that file you can double click on it from Nautilus. This will install the icons in the menu.
That is it, OpenOffice V2.4 is installed and all icons in the menu should be present in your Application--->Office menu. This was not so bad.

You are now ready to enjoy the latest version of OpenOffice. You will notice that it opens faster and has better compatibility with MS Office files. For all the latest updates to OpenOffice.org visit their website.

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