Re: [libreoffice-users] what version of LO would work on a really old system?

I am going to do my reply between the paragraphs.
So read down till the "end" note.


On 02/24/2018 03:51 PM, Tom Davies wrote:
> Hi :)
> LibreOffice is not like most programs.  It has a large core program with a
> few tiny modules / satellites / add-ons / plug-ins / apps that kinda
> plug-in to that core.  Removing one or a handful of those modules does very
> little to affect the size or complexity of LibreOffice.  At least that is
> how i understand it to be.

> There is always Abiword or Google-docs.
>
> Abiword focuses on beinga word-processor without having to integrate with
> other programs.  It should be smaller, lighter and faster but i've not used
> it in the last decade or so.
>
> The only functionality missing from Abiword was that i couldn't make it
> default to using MS formats.  Quite ironic since i now rarely use MS
> formats - because they are incompatible between different versions of MS
> Office = with new versions of MS Office struggling to open older files that
> use their format.

I looked at Abiword before.  I do not know why I did not keep in on the 
computer.

I do have to use MS Office formats.  I do not like to save the documents 
in the formats with a "x" in it. I use .doc instead of .docx, for an 
example.  I have had people send me documents that I needed to edit or 
reproduce - in both Word and Google Docs formats.


> As for using Linux i used to be a fairly normal "point and click" user
> until after i had used "gnu and linux" for about a year.  In that first
> year i spent most of my time still using Windows with only occasional
> forays into Linux.  Then i started using Firefox, OpenOffice and other
> things on Windows too - and then i found a game on Linux that wouldn't work
> on Windows.  That was when my migration to Linux got faster and faster.  So
> it took me a couple of years of really not pushing myself before i found
> i'd kinda accidentally stumbled into using Linux without working at it
> much.
Cost of Windows packages started me on the road to making Linux my 
default. When my list of needed packages totaled over 10 times greater 
than my rent, I really looked for an alternative.  Of course the 
security option over the required security needs in Windows.

I was using Firefox and Thunderbird on Windows, before going to Linux.  
I used MS Office with Office 2003 the last one I have.  I started using 
OOo before it saved files in MS Office formats. When I could not wait 
till OOo updated again, I found LibreOffice while it was still in their 
final release candidate. I have been using it ever since. I still have 
CDs and DVDs of MS and other Windows packages. Some I still have to use 
since I have not found a replacement.

One package I do not use much, is one I always install on my systems. 
Artha is a great offline dictionary and more. If I cannot use Writer and 
its language tools, then Artha is my next line of defense.
> I'm not sure what migration route i'd recommend for a blind user.  Perhaps
> using a simple virtual machine such as Virtualbox = it's not as scary as it
> sound!  It's just a program you can install in Windows and when you
> double-click on it the program runs in a window which you can just close to
> stop the virtual-machine.
>
> Another route is to install Ubuntu inside Windows as though it was just
> another program.  Unlike other distros (Mint, Red-hat, Open-Suse etc) the
> Ubuntu people make a "Wubi installer" on their installer Dvd and the Wubi
> can be installed on Windows.  So maybe just stick an Ubuntu Dvd or
> Usb-stick in and see what options it gives you.

I went to Ubuntu, before I bought my first system with MS Windows NOT 
installed. I looked at several Live CD/DVD version for a HP laptop that 
had XP originally installed. Ubuntu was the only Live version that 
worked with the laptop's sound system. I think that was 9.04. I bought a 
no OS desktop in late Feb 2010 and used 9.10 till 10.04 came out. I 
switched to MATE desktop environment when Ubuntu went to Unity.  I liked 
the GNOME version that was on 10.04, 12.04, till 13.10. I still have one 
desktop using 14.04 with MATE since every time I tried to install 16.04 
the upgrade crashed and kept on crashed.

> Actually "Puppy Linux" does something similar but although it's good on
> low-spec or older systems it's much less typical of linux distros and it's
> not so easy to migrate to other distros
>
> That is just my own opinion but it's too the best of my limited knowledge
> about these things.
>
> Regards from
> a Tom :)

Since the system would be going to a user that may have used Windows.  
Sure there are "lite" versions of Linux.  I have used them once in a 
while for testing.  I tried some on that old HP laptop in a previous 
reply paragraph. But what I need to do had me installing more and more 
packages that stopped it being a "lite" version.

> On 24 February 2018 at 18:37, Robert Großkopf <robert@familiegrosskopf.de>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Tim,
> > > Robert The custom install as you stated seems to come up in Windows, not
> > > DEB based Linux install, unless you install through the repository, and
> > > package managers like Synaptic.
> > I have never installed LibreOffice on a Windows-system. You could choose
> > the packages under OpenSUSE, so why shouldn't you be able to install the
> > packages you wish under *.deb-based Linux-systems? Our main-problem with
> > Base and Ubuntu is: Ubuntu doesn't install Base and doesn't install the
> > report-builder for default. So it seems to be able to install separate
> > parts of LO.
> >
> > I could only say for the packages of LO directly, not for the packages
> > of Ubuntu: You could choose, for example, only Writer - Calc, Impress,
> > Base and so on aren't installed then.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Robert
> > --
Robert, I do not use Base, Math, and rarely Draw. The Ubuntu repository 
install of LO placed Math on the Education menu and Draw in the Graphics 
menu. The install packages from LO directly install all of LO packages 
and places all of the modules in the Office menu.

I prefer to not to try to pitch and choose which .deb files are 
installed. I just use:

sudo apt-get remove libreoffice?
       and
sudo dpkg -i *.deb

when I want to install a new version of LO.  Right now, I am using 6.0.1 
on this laptop and 5.4.5 on most of the others.  I decided to install 
5.4.5 on the old desktop.

As one post commented that installing the two 512MB memory modules to 
replace the two 256MB ones.  Still, the Athlon 3300+ 64-bit CPU in the 
old desktop will not work like the dual core desktops and laptops. I do 
not want to spend my money to upgrade this old desktop.  If I did that, 
I would buy an old dual core desktop or a new base model laptop or 
Chromebook for under $250. I found a HP 17 inch laptop with 2TB drive on 
sale for about $250. That has better specs than my 17 inch laptop, 
except it was a dual core and my laptop is a quad core.

Still, all of the packages I would want on a new desktop/laptop would 
cost too much for Windows 10.  Since I only worked with a Chromebook for 
one day, I had major problems adding any packages including the printer 
driver for the lady's printer. That is why I will never have one and try 
to make my friends not to buy one.

"end of line"


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