How to fix LibreOffice PPA not installing newer versions

[xenopeek]

This tutorial is no longer needed on Linux Mint 17.x, hence locking this topic as questions about other issues get posted here in confusion. Linux Mint 17.3 comes with LibreOffice 5.x. Nothing else needed.

If you're for some reason using an older Linux Mint 17.x release you'll have to add a LibreOffice PPA that has version 5.x yourself in Software Sources. This tutorial was for when you added such a PPA and needed to do something to give it priority. That step is no longer needed so the tutorial is now pointless also for Linux Mint 17.x other than 17.3.

THE BELOW IS NO LONGER NEEDED ON LINUX MINT 17.X

Why you might want to use the LibreOffice PPA
If you're using Linux Mint 17.2 you may have been pleasantly surprised with LibreOffice 4.4.3; a huge improvement over the LibreOffice version shipped with earlier Linux Mint 17.x and Ubuntu LTS versions. You may even have gotten a taste for the improvements the LibreOffice team are making with each stable release and have added the LibreOffice Fresh PPA to your system so you get new stable releases through Update Manager. Certainly looking forward to the 5.0 release you might be interested in that (https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/5.0).

Problem and cause
Unfortunately the way LibreOffice 4.4.3 was added to Linux Mint 17.2 means that if you add the LibreOffice Fresh PPA (or any LibreOffice PPA) it won't offer you new versions through Update Manager. This is because the Linux Mint repositories are set at a higher APT "priority" than the default used for Ubuntu repositories and PPAs. The Update Manager ignores packages of a lower APT priority. So if you are using the LibreOffice Fresh PPA you will have to configure the APT priority for it to equal this higher priority used for the Linux Mint repositories. (After adding the PPA you can see this problem by running the command "apt policy libreoffice", which shows libreoffice package from Ubuntu repositories and this PPA having a priority of 500, while libreoffice from the Linux Mint repository has a priority of 700.)

Solution
Assuming you have already added the PPA ppa:libreoffice/ppa in Software Sources, you need to create the file /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice.pref. To edit the file on the terminal with nano run:
sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice.pref
To instead use a graphical editor press Alt+F2 and type the following command or run that command from the terminal (for KDE replace "gksudo gedit" with "kdesudo kate"; for MATE replace "gedit" with "pluma"):
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice.pref

Put the following text in the file:
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice
Pin-Priority: 700

Save and close the file. If you click refresh in Update Manager it should now list the newer LibreOffice packages and will also for future LibreOffice versions show you the newer packages.

[coder123]

Reading this post sparked a few curious questions in me.

1. On 17.1 why won't libreoffice update any further than version 4.2.8.2?
2. Is an update being worked on for 17.2 that will fix the issue mentioned here for good? (so 17.2 can update to libreoffice 5.0 upon install)
3. When I tried searching about my question regarding 17.1 I found a thread where someone running LMDE was saying that libreoffice was severely outdated because even though version 4.4.3 had been released at the time it was running version 1.3. Is that still the case? Is LMDE'S version of libreoffice still severely outdated in comparsion to version 5.0. If so why aren't stable releases of packages for LMDE (and Debian for that matter) considered to be one version behind the latest instead of extremely behind?

Sorry if it's a bit off-topic but I figured it was all related.

[Cosmo.]

LO 4.2 and 4.3 have reached end of life.

[coder123]

LO 4.2 and 4.3 have reached end of life.

Ok but all three questions are still valid because 5.0 applies to everything except LMDE where 4.4 should apply (or at least 4.3 since it's the last version to finish it's life cycle and should therefore be considered the latest most stable version.

[xenopeek]

1. On 17.1 why won't libreoffice update any further than version 4.2.8.2?

If you haven't installed the LibreOffice Fresh or any of the LibreOffice 4.x PPAs, then you will be stuck on the Ubuntu LTS 14.04 supported version of LibreOffice. The Ubuntu maintainers will backport security fixes and such to this version of LibreOffice that they maintain. As with any other applications on point-release based distros you do not get new upstream releases for any of your applications but you have a stable and secure, integration tested, collection of software (Firefox and Thunderbird are the only exceptions I know, getting premier support from Ubuntu maintainers). Linux Mint 17.2 moves to LibreOffice 4.4.3 because this is added in the Linux Mint 17.2 repositories by the Linux Mint maintainers.

2. Is an update being worked on for 17.2 that will fix the issue mentioned here for good? (so 17.2 can update to libreoffice 5.0 upon install)

Not that I know; there isn't an issue except for people that use PPAs but don't actually know much about how their package management system works. This is the way to replace older versions of packages from the Ubuntu LTS 14.04 package base with newer versions from the Linux Mint repositories, I don't know another way to achieve that. It's a fact of how things work with APT and mixing repositories that have the same packages. This is just my write-up for folks that don't know these kind of details about their package management system.

3. When I tried searching about my question regarding 17.1 I found a thread where someone running LMDE was saying that libreoffice was severely outdated because even though version 4.4.3 had been released at the time it was running version 1.3. Is that still the case? Is LMDE'S version of libreoffice still severely outdated in comparsion to version 5.0. If so why aren't stable releases of packages for LMDE (and Debian for that matter) considered to be one version behind the latest instead of extremely behind?

See answer to question 1. Debian Stable, on which LMDE 2 is based, is a point-release based distro. If you want the latest versions for all your software, you need to get a rolling-release distro like Arch Linux, Debian Sid, Fedora Rawhide, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, or similar (but note that all except Arch Linux are unstable testing branches of point-release based distros). If you have further questions about this move it to Chat about Linux forum.

You can of course just download the latest LibreOffice version from its website and install it to your system, so it's a moot point. I think most users will prefer their software to be stable / unchanging and secure over constantly receiving updates for new versions (which introduce changes to the user interfaces of their programs and introduce new bugs).

[Ark987]

Nice one! I was suspecting about this in my pc but didn't pay much attention, now you have solved my issue before I became aware about it , it is now working properly.

[coder123]

@xenopeek

Thanks for your reply I didn't realize that the Ubuntu maintainers were like that with their repos nor did I realize that only specific versions of distros are rolling release. (except Arch Linux) Ironically my friend who got me into Linux originally with Ubuntu told me he moved to a different distro for stability reasons.

[csmayfield]

Thank you for posting the solution. For some reason, I had to modify it slightly to get it to work:

Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-4-4

[xenopeek]

For some reason, I had to modify it slightly to get it to work:

Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-4-4

You would need to do that only if you have selected the LibreOffice 4.4 PPA because you want to stay on LibreOffice 4.4.x into perpetuity. My fix assumes, as stated, you're using the LibreOffice Fresh PPA to get the latest stable version. With your PPA you won't upgrade to LibreOffice 5. But if that is your intent (staying on 4.4.x) then indeed your adjustment would be needed

[gordonbp]

Thank you very much! Been tearing my (already sparse!) hair out over this one!

[mhenriday]

For this relief, much thanks, xenopeek ; I managed to devise a workaround, which consisted of downloading the LO5 packages directly from the website and installing installing them alongside the latest 4.4 version, but your suggestion actually resolves the problem rather than sidestepping it, and is far more elegant ! Kudos !...

Wonderful to have recourse to these fora !...

Henri

[waldo]

LibreOffice 5 is now up in the Mint repositories.

[xenopeek]

LibreOffice 5 is now up in the Mint repositories.

LibreOffice 5 is available from the PPA; the Mint repositories have LibreOffice 4.4.3: http://packages.linuxmint.com/search.ph ... ection=any

[waldo]

Whatever. The Update Manager presented Mint 5 to me as a Level 2 Update, so it is no longer necessary to jump through hoops to get it.

[Paper Bag]

Whatever. The Update Manager presented Mint 5 to me as a Level 2 Update, so it is no longer necessary to jump through hoops to get it.

Code: Select all

apt-cache policy libreoffice

if you don't believe it can't be coming from the official repos.

[Paper Bag]

For some reason, I had to modify it slightly to get it to work:

Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-4-4

That's because you don't have the main PPA mentioned in OP (ppa:libreoffice/ppa) but the 4.4 stable PPA.

Initially after the release the 5.0 stable PPA wasn't up (ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-5-0), but now it has been for a couple days and for that the line is obviously:

Code: Select all

Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0

[Ranthe]

Thanks xenopeek for these instructions - looks good!

I had tried (after initially getting slightly put off by the warning when I installed the PPA) to just download the .deb packages off the LibreOffice site and installing those, but for some reason I still had LO 4.4.3 running and even (trying) to uninstall LO 4.4.3 and rerunning the 5.0 .deb packages didn't work.

So I reinstalled LO 4.4.3, added the PPA, added the config file as described, and did the update - now LO 5.0 is happily running. Lovely!

[albaberto]

Hello,
after updating as described, adding in /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0.pref

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0
Pin-Priority: 701

my Libreoffice looks "old", I think I'm missing some additional drivers... Any suggestion to fix it?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yc62pxrrx1czj ... 0.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtwuzjuso9prb ... 8.png?dl=0

[Paper Bag]

Hello,
after updating as described, adding in /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0.pref

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0
Pin-Priority: 701

my Libreoffice looks "old", I think I'm missing some additional drivers... Any suggestion to fix it?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yc62pxrrx1czj ... 0.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtwuzjuso9prb ... 8.png?dl=0

Install also:

Code: Select all

libreoffice-gtk libreoffice-gtk3

Why aren't these packages marked as suggested/recommended? I didn't get them automatically either.

[albaberto]

Hello,
after updating as described, adding in /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0.pref

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice-libreoffice-5-0
Pin-Priority: 701

my Libreoffice looks "old", I think I'm missing some additional drivers... Any suggestion to fix it?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yc62pxrrx1czj ... 0.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtwuzjuso9prb ... 8.png?dl=0

Install also:

Code: Select all

libreoffice-gtk libreoffice-gtk3

Why aren't these packages marked as suggested/recommended? I didn't get them automatically either.

Thanks a lot! I knew was something related to that but didn't manage to figure out... Now it's perfect!