Apache Open Office - SOLVED

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jankom · Post by **jankom** » Tue Aug 08, 2023 7:35 pm

I realize that Gentoo decided to include the Oracle flavor of StartOffice, called LibreOffice in Portsage, yet I prefer the simpler, less frequently updated Apache flavor, called OpenOffice. Main reasons are very long compile at each update and too much sophistication - I prefer KISS.

I managed to install the rpm packaged binaries from OpenOffice web site, and it has been working flawlessly on my Gentoo desktop machine. I installed the same on my Mint linux laptop, but it crashes when using forms in the "base" program. All others (Word, etc.) work on both Gentoo and Mint. I surmize that the problem is with the windowing part of the OO base.

Recently I switched my web browser from epiphany to falkon. Too much frustration with epiphany, and falkon is great! (Except that compile time was two days) I removed epiphany and all its related dependencies because I like a clean, not bloated system.

Now the PROBLEM and the reason I seek help from this Forum:
OpenOffice (any of its components) cannot start

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janos@andraslinux ~ $ openoffice4
no suitable windowing system found, exiting.
janos@andraslinux ~ $

I think this is the same problem why Linux Mint crashes with OO base: something has to do with "windowing system"

So even though this topic is about a non-Gentoo program it highlights an X11 or windowing or gui situetion.

Respectfully submitted,

jankom

rab0171610 · Post by **rab0171610** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 4:08 am

What does changing your browser have to do with any of this?
Did you search for that error message in a search engine before posting here?

I assume you are referring to the RPM version when using the app-office/openoffice-bin
from the guru overlay?
The only thing I can suggest, per:
https://sulli.blog/open-office-install- ... dless-use/
https://askubuntu.com/questions/332304/ ... e-4-ubuntu
Is to nstall both x11-libs/libXt and x11-libs/libXrender to see if that makes any difference.

Another post at Apache said it can be caused when using SELinux.
https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/v ... php?t=3168

Otherwise, reach out to developers at guru overlay:
https://github.com/gentoo-mirror/guru
Email addresses at the bottom.

wjb · Post by **wjb** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 9:21 am

LibreOffice is definitely not Oracle. LibreOffice was forked when Oracle acquired OpenOffice. Oracle did nothing with OpenOffice before eventually tossing it over the fence to Apache where nothing much has happened. Or something like that.

There's an ebuild for OpenOffice (bin) available in the guru repository if you really want.

Post by **asturm** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 10:27 am

...but there is also a libreoffice-bin available in ::gentoo.

jankom · Post by **jankom** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 3:22 pm

@rab0171610

What does changing your browser have to do with any of this?

I don't know, but that was the only thing happened when I noticed that I could not open an .odt file. Then I tried the command "openoffice4" and got the no suitable windowing... message.
This morning I checked dependencies of epiphany and falkon, and noticed that falkon showed nothing, but

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janos@andraslinux ~ $ emerge -p epiphany              

These are the packages that would be merged, in order:

Calculating dependencies... done!
Dependency resolution took 41.63 s.

[ebuild  N     ] x11-libs/libXinerama-1.1.5  USE="-doc" ABI_X86="(64) -32 (-x32)" 
[ebuild  N     ] gui-libs/gtk-4.10.4  USE="X cups introspection (-aqua) -broadway -cloudproviders -colord -examples (-ffmpeg) -gstreamer -sysprof -test (-vulkan) -wayland" CPU_FLAGS_X86="-f16c" 
[ebuild  N     ] gui-libs/libadwaita-1.3.3  USE="introspection vala -test" 
[ebuild  NS    ] net-libs/webkit-gtk-2.40.4-r600 [2.40.4-r410]
[ebuild  N     ] dev-libs/libportal-0.6  USE="gtk introspection qt5 vala -gtk-doc -test" 
[ebuild  NS    ] app-crypt/gcr-4.1.0 [3.41.1-r2]
[ebuild  N     ] www-client/epiphany-44.2  USE="-test" 
janos@andraslinux ~ $

When I deselected (purged completely) epiphany all these must have been eliminated. In fact

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janos@andraslinux ~ $ qlist -IRv | grep gtk
dev-cpp/gtkmm-3.24.7::gentoo
dev-util/gtk-doc-am-1.33.2::gentoo
dev-util/gtk-update-icon-cache-3.24.31::gentoo
net-libs/webkit-gtk-2.40.4-r410::gentoo
x11-libs/gtk+-3.24.38::gentoo
x11-libs/gtk+-2.24.33-r3::gentoo
x11-themes/gtk-engines-adwaita-3.28::gentoo
janos@andraslinux ~ $

shows that gui-libs/gtk is now not installed. Could this be the problem? I'll try that and will report later - jankom

Did you search for that error message

Yes, and found the SELinux reference - I do not have SElinux as far as I know, found the libXt and livXrender reference as well, tried them without any success.

RPM version when using the app-office/openoffice-bin

No, I downloaded from http://www.openoffice.org/download/ selecting the rpm version.
@wjb

LibreOffice is definitely not Oracle

Sorry, my misunderstanding of the timeline.https://www.libreoffice.org/about-us/li ... -timeline/

rab0171610 · Post by **rab0171610** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 4:01 pm

Ok, that clears things up. Do not download the rpm version yourself. Use the overlay version from guru if you must. But in my opinion, I agree with Asturn that you should just use libreoffice-bin. There are many reasons, with one being it is in the Gentoo repo (which means you benefit from dependency resolution) and another being it is an active project with better support. I will leave my personal opinions about the principal players in openoffice/libreoffice debacle out of it.

jankom · Post by **jankom** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 8:23 pm

Yes, it was a dependency issue.Since I did not use the overlay version from guru removing epiphany deleted the gui-gtk package causing "lack of windowing". Epiphany was installed before I deselected LibreOffice and installed AOO from their web site, rpm version. So when I switched web browser from epiphany to falcon AOO died. I assume a similar dependency issue causes AOO to crash on my Mint linux laptop when doing Forms in Base.
Gentoo -Portage is innocent - and I have learned something. In the debugging process I compared ooutputs of eselect -c --world with a saved copy of the same command there was no difference. Apparently eselect -c only shows installed programs without corollary support files (dependencies, libs, etc). Only comparing emerge -p <package> revealed the dependencies, and qlist -IRv | grep pointed out the installation difference between the two web browsers.

Where can I find the "overlay version from guru"? I clicked on the gentoo-mirror/guru, but could not find OpenOffice.

Finally my one-cent: - I have been using StarOffice for the past 30 years, and I prefer smple, functionality. Don't need the latest updates trying to keep up with the Vindooz and Apps world. I use nano and vim for simple thiings, and like to look under the hood, fix my own car (but not anymore when everything is chip controlled).

Thanks again and cheers!

jankom

Post by Hu » Wed Aug 09, 2023 9:10 pm

According to various LWN.net articles, Apache OpenOffice maintenance is in a sad state. I would not use it to open any document of even slightly questionable provenance.

Those are just what I could find quickly.

rab0171610 · Post by **rab0171610** » Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:01 am

It should be as simple as following the directions to add the guru overlay (including syncing):
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:GU ... _End_Users
And :

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emerge -av app-office/openoffice-bin

Zugaina is a good place to search for available ebuilds found in overlays outside of Gentoo:
https://gpo.zugaina.org/app-office/openoffice-bin
Obviously, you want to use caution when installing any packages and read the ebuilds first.

jankom · Post by **jankom** » Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:55 am

Thanks again. I'll mark this topic closed - jankom

Apache Open Office - SOLVED

Apache Open Office - SOLVED

Thank you all for posting

Solved

Solved