libreoffice 3.6.3

[eavy]

when will libreoffice be updated to the latest version ? i use mint 13 mate - version is stil 3.6.0

[xenopeek]

Linux Mint, and its Ubuntu base, are not using a rolling release model. That means you don't get newer version of programs just because there is a newer version. Generally you get newer versions of programs only to fix security issues. Newer version with new features you get by upgrading to a new release, like Linux Mint 14 that has just been released (though it has LibreOffice 3.6.2.2).

The reason is that a release, with all its programs, is extensively tested to ensure all the programs work together and there are no major bugs in the versions of the programs included. New versions of programs could bring new bugs (and generally do), but the testing team doesn't have the time to redo the extensive tests anew to guarantee the same quality as users had with the initial release. Hence you only get security fixes, those you must have, and new versions with new features are milestoned for the next release and tested as part of that.

Edit: it may be possible to upgrade to a newer LIbreOffice version of Linux Mint 13 through a PPA. But I haven't found one that has 3.6.3. You can of course also manually install LibreOffice 3.6.3 by downloading it from their website.

[eavy]

vincent, thanks for your reply
i understand that, but since mint 13 is a lts version i thought it would be updating its software as well - what else is the point of an lts version if it does not get the latest software -- in this case LO3.6.3 does not have new features, but fixes some annoying bugs - if an lts version does not follow software upgrades we have to install every 6 months a new mint version just to be updated - i understand the risks of stability but in this case it is a bug fix . for me it is important to have a LO up to date since i use it daily - so i have to install it manually i guess.

i receive new versions of firefox and thunderbird - those are new version - so why not LO?

[purbeckjm]

I too was wondering when LO was going to be updated - but my repositories only show 3.5.4 as the current version. I'm on Maya too, so which repository are you looking to get a 3.6.0 base version?

Thanks,

[nomko]

the only option to upgrade to the latest version is indeed by using a PPA. This article might clarify 1 or 2 things: http://www.iloveubuntu.net/libreoffice- ... buntu-1204.
Here's the Launchpad PPA website: https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/ppa.

[purbeckjm]

Thanks for the pointers nomko, but I'm still slightly confused about this. I don't have a specific libreoffice PPA in my repositories, so I assume LO comes from one of the mint ones. I don't know which one, and I was curious to read that eavy has LO3.6.0 in his Maya repositories. This shows he's using a different PPA to me, but his post implies he's not added any specific PPA for LO, so I wondered why there's a difference between his Maya repository setup and mine.

As far as I can see, the current "Mint Approved" released of LO for Maya is 3.5.4, which does seem to be a bit behind the curve.

Hope that makes sense? Thanks,

[nomko]

I don't have a specific libreoffice PPA in my repositories, so I assume LO comes from one of the mint ones.

Yes, your version of LO comes with Mint itself. But by adding the LO PPA you can update the standard version without any problems. You can add the PPA by typing the following command in a terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

I don't know which one, and I was curious to read that eavy has LO3.6.0 in his Maya repositories. This shows he's using a different PPA to me, but his post implies he's not added any specific PPA for LO, so I wondered why there's a difference between his Maya repository setup and mine.

As you have read his post, eavy mentioned to install LO manually. That's why eavy can have a version newer than you. When you go to the website of LO, you can download the latest version and install it manually. Or you can add the PPA and be assured to have the latest version al all times.

Here's the link to the Mint packages pool: http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/.

As far as I can see, the current "Mint Approved" released of LO for Maya is 3.5.4, which does seem to be a bit behind the curve.
Hope that makes sense? Thanks,

Well.... you must not forget that Mint 13 was released in april/may this year (Mint 13 = Ubuntu 12.04). So it could be that LO was available as version 3.5.4 around the release date of Mint 13 which means that LO 3.5.4 was added to Mint as the standard Office suit since there was no newer version of LO available. Now we are in november 2012, couple months after the Mint 13 release date and LO released versions which only contains some minor bugfixes and patches but nothing really essential or important. And for the Mint developers it's just impossible to constantly add any new version of any program all the time so they draw a line and release the distro. This does not mean that you, as end-user, cannot update the existing programs to a newer version. That will be done by getting updates through the Updatemanager or by adding a PPA or by updating manually.

[purbeckjm]

Thanks nomko, I've added the new PPA and been able to upgrade to 3.6, though not 3.6.3 yet. I was confused by eavy's first post, which did suggest that the default for Maya was 3.6.0 - he didn't mention manually upgrading at that point. But I take your point about the original release date for Maya.

Looks like I'll be upgrading to Mint 14 shortly anyway, as all the early feedback seems to be very positive and I want to try Cinnamon!

Many thanks for the advice,

[eavy]

i have added the ppa to upgrade LO (first i have installed in manually - dowloaded it and it installed it -) - then i removed the manually installed version and added the ppa to upgrade to 3.6 - but ever since there is still no update to 3.6.3 (this version has no new features - it only solves bugs) - so i was wondering when this update will come - either trough the repository of mint either through the ppa.
i was just wondering why mint does update firefox and thunderbird - but not LO in the LTS version.

[xenopeek]

The PPA repository you added currently has 3.6.0 as highest version for Ubuntu 12.04 (on which Linux Mint 13 is based). As shared, you won't get a newer version of LibreOffice from Linux Mint (which uses the version from the Ubuntu 12.04 repositories), unless there is a security issue to fix. And then you would get a fix for the LibreOffice version as available in the Ubuntu 12.04 repository, not the one you installed from the PPA repository. Possibly the developers maintaining that PPA repository may update to a higher LibreOffice version, but that is outside our view.

Again, installing LibreOffice manually by downloading it from their website is the only real guaranteed way to get 3.6.3 now. But you will have to upgrade it manually for any new versions that become available.

With either the PPA, or installing LibreOffice manually from their website, you should be aware that security issues are not managed for the versions you have installed. Only the versions installed from the Ubuntu 12.04 repository are managed by the security team. So you should keep yourself appraised of any security issues with your version of LibreOffice, or at least be aware of the risk you take with this.

The point of a long-term support release is not to be a rolling release where you continue to get new versions with new features. The point of a long-term support release is that once installed, you can be reasonably sure it will continue functioning on your hardware and that security issues are managed by the security team. For those reasons, you can continue to use your installation worry free for the full 5 years of the support period. If you want the latest version of software, which includes taking a risk it may not work without problems on your installation and will not be managed by the security team, then a long-term support release is probably not for you. I don't know what is so "must have" in LibreOffice 3.6.3 though, 3.5.4 works perfectly fine here

[eavy]

Vincent thank you for the explanation - i do prefer LTS versions as i use my computer daily - the reason i use 3.6 is because i have a lot of wordperfect files from the time i worked in windows - these wp file some have graphcis or tables or charts - in LO 3.5 these graphics arr thrown out and all you see is txt - this has been fixed in 3.6 and works very well (sometime graphics are shifted a bit but that is not a big problem) therefor i use 3.6 - 3.63 has fixed some bugs i also encountered -

i will download and install LO 3.6.3 manually and keep on doing so with the next versions - but can comebody explain to me the quickest way to do so - i have managed in the past but i am not sure if it is the right way --

thanks vincent for the help and the usefull explanation - i'll keep using my mint 13 LTS until the next LTS version