• better UI for header/footer handling
• multi-line input bar in Calc
• Import filter for Microsoft Visio documents
• enhanced custom shapes import
• modeless  word count dialog
• improved font hinting for high quality docs
• more secure encryption algorithm (AES-256) for password protected files
• better displaying of non-printable characters on the end of line
• and much more

The current openSUSE packages are based on the LibreOffice 3.5.2 release. Please, look for more details about the openSUSE LibreOffice build on the wiki page.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

Known bugs:

• problems with KDE 4.8.2 from KDE:Distro:Factory project (bnc#755886)

Other information and plans:

The current LibreOffice-3.5 packages are based on the second bugfix release and should be pretty stable. I want to move them into the LibreOffice:Stable project within next two weeks. I just want to make sure that I did not do any mistake during packaging, e.g. breaking dependencies. Also the KDE4 integration need to be tested because it was not provided by the upstream build. Any feedback is welcome.

LibreOffice 3.4 provides many interesting features and fixes. The openSUSE packages are based on the LibreOffice 3.4.2 release but they include all fixes from the last 3.4.3 bugfix release. Please, look for more details about the openSUSE LibreOffice build on the wiki page.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

Other information and plans:

It took me quite some time to prepare the 3.4 update because the split build was not longer supported and I had to completely rework the packages.

We are going to prepare official maintenance update for openSUSE-11.3 and 11.4. You might expect it within next few weeks.

I am going further improve the build framework to be able to early provide LO-3.5 packages in the LibreOffice:Unstable project. You might expect something about Christmas, see the LibreOffice 3.5 schedule.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

Other information and plans:

The bugfix release 3.3.4 is planed two months from now. Though, I would rather provide LO-3.4.2 packages instead.

I am already working on the LO-3.4 packages. They are more complicated because there were significant changes in the build stuff. You might expect something within the next few weeks in the LibreOffice:Unstable project.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

Other information and plans:

The 3.3.2 packages includes KDE3 support again. Thanks Lubos Lunak who fixed all known issues and Ilya Chernykh who helped with packaging.

The 3.3.2 release is in a very good shape, so we decided to slow down the bug fixes release cycle. You might expect the 3.3.3 bug fix release two months from now.

LO-3.4 feature freeze is pretty close and we will start producing test packages in the LibreOffice:Unstable project. Please, be patient because there are many interesting changes in the build framework. They are good for the future but I expect some problems with packaging. I hope that I will manage to provide something by the end of April.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

Other information and plans:

This version will be in openSUSE-11.4 out of box. We are going to prepare official maintenance update for openSUSE-11.2 and 11.3.

There are already several fixes for the LO-3.3.2 bugfix release. You might expect 3.3.2-rc1 in the “LibreOffice:Unstable” repositories by the end of the following week.

Most developers are already concentrated on LO-3.4 release. I hope that the first beta packages will be ready in the beginning of April.

The openSUSE LO team hopes that you will be happy with this release. Though, any software contains bugs and we kindly ask you to report bugs. It will help us to fix them in the future releases.

False error during update

You might see some installation errors about missing extensions when updating from OpenOffice.org, for example:

ERROR: There is no such extension deployed: com.sun.reportdesigner

Please, ignore them. They are caused by a bug in the OOo packages and can’t be avoided easily. They does not affect the LibreOffice installation!

More known bugs

• Free Desktop bugzilla
• Novell bugzilla

Other information and plans:

LO switched to a time based schedule and more frequent bug fix releases. The purpose is to keep quality and avoid infinite RC phase at the same time. The idea is that all serious blocker bugs can be found and fixed within few weeks. Then the application is ready for masses who want to enjoy new features and more complicated fixes. The history says that bugs in less typical scenarios are found weeks after the release. Such bugs will be fixed in pure bug fix releases and released few weeks after each other. It means that more conservative people should rather wait for the 3.x.1, 3.x.2, 3.x.3 releases. We hope that it will help all people to get faster what they want.

We are already working on LO-3.3.1 bugfix release. I have just published 3.3.1-rc1. The final 3.3.1 release should be available within 2 weeks.

The packages are based on LibreOffice release candidate sources. Though, they include some addons from the old Go-oo project.  They have not passed full QA round yet and might include even serious bugs. Therefore they are not intended for data-critical usage. A good practice is to archive any important data before an use, …

As usual, we kindly ask any interested beta testers to try the package and report bugs against the product LibreOffice .

Known bugs

• some packages were not renamed, .e.g. OpenOffice_org-thesaurus, …; they are not built from the main LibO sources; I will do soon.
• SLED10 build is not available; need more love

More known bugs

• Free Desktop bugzilla
• Novell bugzilla

Other information and plans:

First, I am sorry that I did not announce two older builds. I published rc2 build just before Christmas and the announce was forgot in the hurry. There were problems with building rc3. It was ready only one day before rc4, so it did not make sense to announce it.

There still might be some openSUSE-specific bugs that would need to be fixed. I hope that they do not break the base function but… I will continue with producing newer builds with more fixes from the stable libreoffice-3-3 branch. I will move the packages to a stable project once we finish testing of all the SUSE-specific addons. It should happen within the next few weeks.

Please be patient and thanks for understanding.

The packages are based on release candidate sources but they have not passed full QA round yet and might include even serious bugs. Therefore they are not intended for data-critical usage. A good practice is to archive any important data before an use, …

As usual, we kindly ask any interested beta testers to try the package and report bugs against the product LibreOffice .

Known bugs

• unopkg crashes (bug #655912)
• shell wrappers are still ooffice, oowriter, …; we need to discuss the new wrapper names with other distros first
• some packages were not renamed, .e.g. OpenOffice_org-thesaurus, …; they are not built from the main LibO sources; we will do it later
• user configuration is stored into ~/.libreoffice/3-suse; we might try to share the directory ~/.libreoffice/3 after we fix the incompatible BerkleyDB; Well, we are not sure if it is enough and it is a good idea, so it will need some more testing
• GNOME quickstarter is started by default; you might disable it in Tools/Options/OpenOffice.org/Memory/Enable systray Quickstarter
• SLED10 build is not available; need more love

More known bugs

• Free Desktop bugzilla
• Novell bugzilla
• OOo issuezilla

Other information and plans:

The package are based on LibreOffice-3.3-rc1 sources. There are still some openSUSE-specific bugs that needed to be fixed. I hope that they do not break the base function, though.

We expect that rc2 will be needed within next two weeks. We will try to fix more openSUSE-specific bugs in the meantime…

The packages are beta versions and might include even serious bugs. Therefore they are not intended for data-critical usage. A good practice is to archive any important data before an use, …

As usual, we kindly ask any interested beta testers to try the package and report bugs. The product LibreOffice should appear in the Novell bugzilla soon. In the meantime, please, use the OpenOffice.org product.

Known bugs

• shell wrappers are still ooffice, oowriter, …; we need to discuss the new wrapper names with other distros first
• extensions are not registered after the update from OpenOffice_org-* packages; a workaround is to reinstall the packages once again; We plan to remove the registration during installation; it will allow users to disable the extensions by themselves
• some packages were not renamed, .e.g. OpenOffice_org-thesaurus, …; they are not built from the main LO sources; we will do it later
• user configuration is stored into ~/.libreoffice/3-suse; we might try to share the directory ~/.libreoffice/3 after we fix the incompatible BerkleyDB; Well, we are not sure if it is enough and it is a good idea, so it will need some more testing
• GNOME quickstarter is started by default; you might disable it in Tools/Options/OpenOffice.org/Memory/Enable systray Quickstarter
• SLED10 build is not available; need more love

More known bugs

• Free Desktop bugzilla
• Novell bugzilla
• OOo issuezilla

Other information and plans:

I am sorry if you had troubles with the LibreOffice:Unstable repository last week. It was sometimes inconsistent because I forgot to disable publishing before I fixed build of all packages. Everything should be fine now.

I have done another rebuild over the weekend that finally enabled non-English localizations.

The next build should be available within two weeks. It is still a bit unclear whether it would be another beta or the first release candidate.

I’m happy to announce LibreOffice 3.3 beta2 packages for openSUSE. They are available in the Build Service LibreOffice:Unstable project. They are based on the libreoffice-3.2.99.2 release. Please, look for more details about the openSUSE LibreOffice build on the wiki page.

The packages are beta versions and might include even serious bugs. Therefore they are not intended for data-critical usage. A good practice is to archive any important data before an use, …

As usual, we kindly ask any interested beta testers to try the package and report bugs.

Known bugs

• only the LibreOffice branding package is available; you need to replace OpenOffice_org-branding-openSUSE with libreoffice-branding-upstream
• shell wrappers are still ooffice, oowriter, …; we need to discuss the new wrapper names with other distros first
• application stops immediately when you start it for the first time; just start it once again
• extensions are not registered after the update from OpenOffice_org-* packages; a workaround is to reinstall the packages once again; We plan to remove the registration during installation; it will allow users to disable the extensions by themselves
• some packages were not renamed, .e.g. OpenOffice_org-thesaurus, …; they are not built from the main LO sources; we will do it later
• user configuration is stored into ~/.libreoffice/3-suse; we might try to share the directory ~/.libreoffice/3 after we fix the incompatible BerkleyDB; Well, we are not sure if it is enough and it is a good idea, so it will need some more testing
• packages can’t be installed in parallel with the generic LibreOffice linux packages; the problem is that both builds use the libreoffice-ure package name; it will be solved in beta3; a workaround is to install the package using “rpm -i” instead of “rpm -U”
• GNOME quickstarter is started by default; you might disable it in Tools/Options/OpenOffice.org/Memory/Enable systray Quickstarter
• SLED10 build is not available; need more love

More known bugs

• Free Desktop bugzilla
• Novell bugzilla
• OOo issuezilla

Other information and plans:

These are the first packages with new name. Please, be patient if they are not perfect. Please report unknown bugs.

The new packages automatically remove the obsolete openSUSE OpenOffice_org packages. It still will be possible to intall the plain OpenOffice.org packages in parallel, though.