Gregg's Nearly Interminable Adventures in Linux Land

[Dngrsone]

Can you not use a symbolic link to the Dropbox folder?

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Can you not use a symbolic link to the Dropbox folder?

Thanks Dngrsone. You know, I think I'm over-complicating things. I'm just trying to come up with a good safe backup plan. I've got two computers and I've got them synced with Copy and Dropbox both. I've got most of my not critically important stuff in the Copy folder, but I figure I could put my writing (epubs and odts mostly) into the Dropbox folder and then put the Dropbox folder into the Copy folder and then I'll be super safe. But I wonder if I'm setting myself up to be confused. Like, 'Is that synced?' 'Which is the latest version?' (I've already run into a bit of that already.

And I've tried symbolic links. Couldn't quite figure out how they worked.

[Gregg Bell]

Okay. I got a newer computer to replace one of my two computers. A friend helped me install Xubuntu 14.10. So now I'm trying to get all the software I had on the old one.

In my writing, I write on a laptop. So I have LO 4.2.3.3 on it. So I put 4.2.3.3 on the other two computers, figuring it would be best to have the same versions on all three machines.

Now I have the folder for LO 4.2.3.3 but don't know how to install it on the newer computer. I have GDebi Package Installer but that only wants to install files. (Unless I open the Debs folder and do 'select all files" and "open" them with the GDebi installer.)

I went to the LO site and they don't offer 4.2.3.3 any more.

Any ideas?

[Glorfindel]

Why not update your laptop and install the latest from the SC?

[eschwartz]

Remember, on linux you can just install things from the Software Center, rather than downloading the installer from the program's website.

Don't worry about versions, assuming you have the same type of linux on each computer they will be offered the same version of LO anyway.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Glorfindel

Why not update your laptop and install the latest from the SC?

Thanks Gorfindel. When I saw your advice I was like, "Duh!" But alas the laptop is so old and so slow it wouldn't even open the USC. And some guys told me in xubuntu chat that installing LO from the terminal on such an old version of Xubuntu would install an LO version even older than the one I have on there.

Somebody gave me this to install the 4.2.3.3 on the new machine.

Hi,

I would skip down to the command line and the directory on which this file is stored, then (sorry I can't see the full file name while I am typing so I'll let you put the correct details where I have put ???)

tar -zxvf Libreoffice-???.zip
cd Libreoffice-???/deb
sudo apt-get install *.deb

But it didn't work. (I tried it with and without the hyphen. Got error messages. See screenshots)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Remember, on linux you can just install things from the Software Center, rather than downloading the installer from the program's website.

Don't worry about versions, assuming you have the same type of linux on each computer they will be offered the same version of LO anyway.

Thanks eschwartz. Well, if I can get the same version I'll be happier.

So if I just get the latest from the USC on the new machine and I have Xubuntu on all three machines I'll be okay? Even if the laptop has a really old version? (I think it has 12.04.)

[eschwartz]

If the software center won't open -- wait, that doesn't sound right -- my laptop is 11 yrs old, processor: 1.40 GHz, 2GB RAM (upgraded from 256MB -- very worthwhile $20) -- and I can certainly open it.

But anyway. Instead of downloading the deb package, just use the terminal command to install programs:

sudo apt-get install name-of-program1 name-of-program2 name-of-program3

when typing in the name of a program, you can start with "libre" and then tap the tab key twice -- it will start offering potential completions.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Gorfindel. When I saw your advice I was like, "Duh!" But alas the laptop is so old and so slow it wouldn't even open the USC. And some guys told me in xubuntu chat that installing LO from the terminal on such an old version of Xubuntu would install an LO version even older than the one I have on there.

Somebody gave me this to install the 4.2.3.3 on the new machine.

Hi,

I would skip down to the command line and the directory on which this file is stored, then (sorry I can't see the full file name while I am typing so I'll let you put the correct details where I have put ???)

tar -zxvf Libreoffice-???.zip
cd Libreoffice-???/deb
sudo apt-get install *.deb

But it didn't work. (I tried it with and without the hyphen. Got error messages. See screenshots)

The LibreOffice file shown by ls on your desktop doesn't end in .zip. Try your tar command again with the exact file name.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks eschwartz. Well, if I can get the same version I'll be happier.

So if I just get the latest from the USC on the new machine and I have Xubuntu on all three machines I'll be okay? Even if the laptop has a really old version? (I think it has 12.04.)

Alas, not if the computer has an old version of Xubuntu -- it will have an old version of LO.

You *might* want to upgrade Xubuntu itself -- but you might not care -- it doesn't really matter if you are using a slightly old version of LO. You can open a MS Office 2010 DOCX on a computer that has MS Office 2007 installed, right? Same goes with LO.

Besides, any version of Xubuntu will have an old version of LO, it is the sacrifice you pay for stability. Otherwise known as FeatureFreeze, it means things that work, get left that way.
The latest shiny toys get saved for newer versions of Xubuntu which are receiving developer testing anyway.


Again -- it doesn't really matter which version of LO you have -- they are all relatively new, and the differences aren't that great your documents will open on either version, and the new features are likely not things you are actually using.



If you truly desire the latest and greatest, you can of course install it manually as you tried. Just a couple things:

There is a README file (in the READMES folder) with helpful information. It has a section on installing to Debian- and Ubuntu- based linux systems. The relevant info is as follows:
(disclaimer: I am looking at the main, LO 4.4.2.2 download)

When you unpack the downloaded archive, you will see that the contents have been decompressed into a sub-directory. Open a file manager window, and change directory to the one starting with "LibreOffice_", followed by the version number and some platform information.

This directory contains a subdirectory called "DEBS". Change directory to the "DEBS" directory.

Right-click within the directory and choose "Open in Terminal". A terminal window will open. From the command line of the terminal window, enter the following command (you will be prompted to enter your root user's password before the command will execute):

The following commands will install LibreOffice and the desktop integration packages (you may just copy and paste them into the terminal screen rather than trying to type them):

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

The installation process is now completed, and you should have icons for all the LibreOffice applications in your desktop's Applications/Office menu.

If you really want, you can do it all using the terminal:
You already extracted the files, so we can skip that.
The only thing there appears to be a folder, so type "cd LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb/DEBS/"
Don't use apt-get install, that is for the software center. Instead, use "sudo dpkg -i *.deb".
dpkg is for installing .deb files, apt-get is for installing program names ffrom the software center repositories.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

If the software center won't open -- wait, that doesn't sound right -- my laptop is 11 yrs old, processor: 1.40 GHz, 2GB RAM (upgraded from 256MB -- very worthwhile $20) -- and I can certainly open it.

But anyway. Instead of downloading the deb package, just use the terminal command to install programs:

sudo apt-get install name-of-program1 name-of-program2 name-of-program3

when typing in the name of a program, you can start with "libre" and then tap the tab key twice -- it will start offering potential completions.

Thanks eschwartz. No luck, though.

gregg@LG:~/Desktop$ ls
LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb
gregg@LG:~/Desktop$ sudo apt-get install LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb'

I'll check the specs on the laptop.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Alas, not if the computer has an old version of Xubuntu -- it will have an old version of LO.

You *might* want to upgrade Xubuntu itself -- but you might not care -- it doesn't really matter if you are using a slightly old version of LO. You can open a MS Office 2010 DOCX on a computer that has MS Office 2007 installed, right? Same goes with LO.

Besides, any version of Xubuntu will have an old version of LO, it is the sacrifice you pay for stability. Otherwise known as FeatureFreeze, it means things that work, get left that way.
The latest shiny toys get saved for newer versions of Xubuntu which are receiving developer testing anyway.


Again -- it doesn't really matter which version of LO you have -- they are all relatively new, and the differences aren't that great your documents will open on either version, and the new features are likely not things you are actually using.



If you truly desire the latest and greatest, you can of course install it manually as you tried. Just a couple things:

There is a README file (in the READMES folder) with helpful information. It has a section on installing to Debian- and Ubuntu- based linux systems. The relevant info is as follows:
(disclaimer: I am looking at the main, LO 4.4.2.2 download)




If you really want, you can do it all using the terminal:
You already extracted the files, so we can skip that.
The only thing there appears to be a folder, so type "cd LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb/DEBS/"
Don't use apt-get install, that is for the software center. Instead, use "sudo dpkg -i *.deb".
dpkg is for installing .deb files, apt-get is for installing program names ffrom the software center repositories.

Thanks escwartz. (In my defense--besides general ineptitude--I checked the read me. It was like 20 pages long!) Anyway, yeah, it's a folder on the desktop. So give me (please) exact step-by-step instructions for doing it in the terminal. I could give it a shot with what you wrote but step-by-step will be money to me. TY!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

The LibreOffice file shown by ls on your desktop doesn't end in .zip. Try your tar command again with the exact file name.

Thanks rjb. I tried it but no luck.

gregg@LG:~/Desktop$ tar -zxvf LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb
tar (child): LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb: Cannot read: Is a directory
tar (child): At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now

gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

[eschwartz]

Exactly as I said.

Open a terminal in the DEBS folder. Either using cd from the terminal, or, recent versions of the file browser include a right-click option to open a folder in the terminal.

In the debs folder:

type:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Alternatively, try

sudo apt-get install libreoffice

That will install whichever version of "libreoffice" is available in the software center.

apt-get is kind to you, it doesn't ask you to name packages using the version numbers and 32/64-bitness and stuff, just the name. Like "libreoffice" or "firefox" or stuff.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks rjb. I tried it but no luck.

gregg@LG:~/Desktop$ tar -zxvf LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb
tar (child): LibreOffice_4.2.3.3_Linux_x86_deb: Cannot read: Is a directory
tar (child): At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now

The tar process must have worked earlier to create that directory. Listen to eschwartz and use dpkg on the debs.-) Get into the subdirectory with the debs and use the dpkg command (as root) that he gave you.