Apache OpenOffice 3.4 vs. LibreOffice 3.5.5.3

[tandrews16]

I decided to download and install the new Apache OpenOffice to see for myself if I preferred it to LibreOffice. While I don't need two office suites, I have had some problems printing landscape spreadsheets with Calc on my HP printers, and I wanted to see if the new OpenOffice had the same problem. (The LibreOffice fix was to change the printer language from PDF to Postscript, but it has to be done separately for each document - a big pain in the butt.)

But when I tried the installation, I found that in Mageia 2 LibreOffice "obsoletes" OpenOffice, and I wasn't allowed to install it. So, I uninstalled LibreOffice, and the OpenOffice installation proceeded smoothly. By then it was late at night, and I waited until the next day to try it out. But before I got around to trying it, Mageia Update popped up, telling me that I needed to "update" to LibreOffice again. Thinking that I might be OK now that OpenOffice was installed, I tried to go ahead with the update - only to see that OpenOffice had to be removed first!

Is it really necessary to limit our choices like that, without being nagged to use a certain office suite? I've been using Linux for more than 10 years. All this time I thought Linux was all about choice. Apparently, I was mistaken.

[marja]

I decided to download and install the new Apache OpenOffice to see for myself if I preferred it to LibreOffice. .........
But when I tried the installation, I found that in Mageia 2 LibreOffice "obsoletes" OpenOffice, and I wasn't allowed to install it. So, I uninstalled LibreOffice, and the OpenOffice installation proceeded smoothly. By then it was late at night, and I waited until the next day to try it out. But before I got around to trying it, Mageia Update popped up, telling me that I needed to "update" to LibreOffice again. Thinking that I might be OK now that OpenOffice was installed, I tried to go ahead with the update - only to see that OpenOffice had to be removed first!

Is it really necessary to limit our choices like that, without being nagged to use a certain office suite? I've been using Linux for more than 10 years. All this time I thought Linux was all about choice. Apparently, I was mistaken.

How was your choice limited? When you refused the update to LibreOffice, did the update go on anyway?
Please don't blame us for asking you to update software we don't support to software we do support.

You might be interested to read https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5334
It was filed a bit early, but our LibreOffice maintainer (dmorgan) seems interested
If you add yourself to the cc of that bug report, you'll be notified when something happens in it

[tandrews16]

How was your choice limited? When you refused the update to LibreOffice, did the update go on anyway?
Please don't blame us for asking you to update software we don't support to software we do support.

Of course it didn't go on anyway. I suppose the comment on limiting choice was unwarranted. But the request to "update" came back right away, and unless I make the special effort to tell Mageia Update to "skip" the update, the request will keep coming until I do remove the offending unsupported software. But I don't get that from all unsuported software. I can install Google's Chrome (because it will work with some plugins that Chromium won't) without being nagged to remove either Chrome or Chromium. I can install Adobe Reader without needing to uninstall Okular.

I'm not so sure LibreOffice 3.5.5.3 should be considered an "update" to Apache OpenOffice 3.4, anyway. Sure the two suites have the same roots, and the LO version number is higher than the AOO version number, but IMO they are two branches of a fork and should be considered as separate software, much the same as I consider Mageia 2 and Mandriva 2011 to be separate branches of a fork - related but different.

I will keep watch of the bug report/package request you mentioned, and hope that Apache OpenOffice 4 will be supported by Mageia, as well as LibreOffice. But if it isn't, I sincerely hope that we users can be allowed to install that in parallel with LibreOffice if we choose to do so, without having to put up with the nagging to "update."

[doktor5000]

Complain to Apache OpenOffice, that their packages provides the same old stuff which OpenOffice.org packages provided.
We need to support upgrading from Mandriva 2010.2, so we need to obsolete older openoffice version.

If you don't want that, put the packages you want into urpmi's skip.list.

[tandrews16]

So, until Apache throws out all of "the same old stuff" that is their base and starts over from scratch, Mageia wants nothing to do with it. OK, got it. Thanks for the info.

[marja]

So, until Apache throws out all of "the same old stuff" that is their base and starts over from scratch, Mageia wants nothing to do with it. OK, got it. Thanks for the info.

I didn't check every file, but AFAICS LibreOffice renamed them all. Is the real problem that Apache didn't rename them (just prefixing an "A" for Apache would have been enough), so that we can't distinguish between Apache and OOo?

[doktor5000]

So, until Apache throws out all of "the same old stuff" that is their base and starts over from scratch, Mageia wants nothing to do with it. OK, got it. Thanks for the info.

Nope, you didn't read well. The RPM packages use Provides tags which are arbitrary, but which are still matched by those which were put into effect in libreoffice for old openoffice packages from Mandriva times, so that those can be properly updated. Until they clear that up, the issue will stay. But this doesn't require a change in the openoffice code itself.