# LibreOffice 4.2 ReadMe

This file contains important information about the LibreOffice software. You are recommended to read this information very carefully before starting installation.

The LibreOffice community is responsible for the development of this product, and invites you to consider participating as a community member. If you are a new user, you can visit the LibreOffice site, where you will find lots of information about the LibreOffice project and the communities that exist around it.

Is LibreOffice Really Free for Any User?

  LibreOffice is free for use by everybody. You may take this copy of LibreOffice and install it on as many computers as you like, and use it for any purpose you like (including commercial, government, public administration and educational use). For further details see the license text packaged with this LibreOffice download.

Why is LibreOffice Free for Any User?

  You can use this copy of LibreOffice free of charge because individual contributors and corporate sponsors have designed, developed, tested, translated, documented, supported, marketed, and helped in many other ways to make LibreOffice what it is today - the world's leading Open Source productivity software for home and office.

  If you appreciate their efforts, and would like to ensure that LibreOffice continues to be available far into the future, please consider contributing to the project. Everyone can make a contribution of some kind.

## Notes on Installation

LibreOffice requires a recent version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for full functionality. JRE is not part of the LibreOffice installation package, it should be installed separately.

### System Requirements

As a general rule, you are recommended to install LibreOffice via the installation methods recommended by your particular Linux distribution (such as the Ubuntu Software Center, in the case of Ubuntu Linux). This is because it is usually the simplest way to obtain an installation that is optimally integrated into your system. Indeed, LibreOffice may well be already installed by default when you originally install your Linux operating system.

This "stand-alone" LibreOffice installer is provided for users in need of previews, having special needs, and for out-of-the-ordinary cases.

- Linux Kernel version 2.6.18 or higher;
- glibc2 version 2.5 or higher;
- freetype version 2.2.0 or higher;
- gtk version 2.10.4 or higher;
- Gnome 2.16 or higher, with the gail 1.9 and the at-spi 1.7 packages (required for support for assistive technology [AT] tools), or another compatible GUI (such as KDE, among others).

There is a wide variety of Linux distributions, and there may be different installation options (KDE vs Gnome, etc.) available from the same Linux vendor. Some distributions ship with their own “native” version of LibreOffice, which may have different features from this community-supplied version of LibreOffice. In many cases, you can install the community-supplied LibreOffice alongside a native version. However, you may prefer to remove the “native” version before installing this community-supplied version. For details on how to do that, please consult the user help resources provided by your particular Linux vendor.

It is a recommended best practice to back-up your system and data before you remove or install software.

Please make sure you have enough free memory in the temporary directory on your system, and please ensure that read, write and run access rights have been granted. Close all other programs before starting the installation process.

### Installation of LibreOffice on Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux systems

For instructions on how to install a language pack (after having installed the US English version of LibreOffice), please read the section below entitled Installing a Language Pack.

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.

### Installation of LibreOffice on Fedora, openSUSE, Mandriva and other Linux systems using RPM packages

For instructions on how to install a language pack (after having installed the US English version of LibreOffice), please read the section below entitled Installing a Language Pack.

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 "RPMS". Change directory to the "RPMS" 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):

For Fedora-based systems:

       { su -c 'yum install *.rpm'; }

For Mandriva-based systems:

       { sudo urpmi *.rpm; }

For other RPM-based systems (openSUSE, etc.):

       { rpm -Uvh *.rpm; }

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

Alternatively, you can use the 'install' script, located in the top-level directory of this archive to perform an installation as a user. The script will set up LibreOffice to have its own profile for this installation, separated from your normal LibreOffice profile. Note that this will not install the system integration parts such as desktop menu items and desktop MIME type registrations.

### Notes Concerning Desktop Integration for Linux Distributions Not Covered in the Above Installation Instructions

It should be easily possible to install LibreOffice on other Linux distributions not specifically covered in these installation instructions. The main aspect for which differences might be encountered is desktop integration.

The RPMS (or DEBS, respectively) directory also contains a package named libreoffice4.1-freedesktop-menus-4.1.0-3.noarch.rpm (or libreoffice4.1-debian-menus_4.1.0-3_all.deb, respectively, or similar). This is a package for all Linux distributions that support the Freedesktop.org specifications/recommendations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedesktop.org), and is provided for installation on other Linux distributions not covered in the aforementioned instructions.

### Installing a Language Pack

Download the language pack for your desired language and platform. They are available from the same location as the main installation archive. From the Nautilus file manager, extract the downloaded archive into a directory (your desktop, for instance). Ensure that you have exited all LibreOffice applications (including the QuickStarter, if it is started).

Change directory to the directory in which you extracted your downloaded language pack.

Now change directory to the directory that was created during the extraction process. For instance, for the French language pack for a 32-bit Debian/Ubuntu-based system, the directory is named LibreOffice_, plus some version information, plus Linux_x86_langpack-deb_fr.

Now change directory to the directory that contains the packages to install. On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems, the directory will be DEBS. On Fedora, openSUSE or Mandriva systems, the directory will be RPMS.

From the Nautilus file manager, right-click in the directory and choose the command "Open in terminal". In the terminal window you just opened, execute the command to install the language pack (with all of the commands below, you may be prompted to enter your root user's password):

For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:

       { sudo dpkg -i *.deb; }

For Fedora-based systems:

       { su -c 'yum install *.rpm'; }

For Mandriva-based systems:

       { sudo urpmi *.rpm; }

For other RPM-using systems (openSUSE, etc.):

       { rpm -Uvh *.rpm; }

Now start one of the LibreOffice applications — Writer, for instance. Go to the Tools menu and choose Options. In the Options dialog box, click on "Language Settings" and then click on "Languages". Dropdown the "User interface" list and select the language you just installed. If you want, do the same thing for the "Locale setting", the "Default currency", and the "Default languages for documents".

After adjusting those settings, click on OK. The dialog box will close, and you will see an information message telling you that your changes will only be activated after you exit LibreOffice and start it again (remember to also exit the QuickStarter if it is started).

The next time you start LibreOffice, it will start in the language you just installed.

## Problems During Program Startup

Difficulties starting LibreOffice (e.g. applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option "Use OpenGL" under 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - 3D view'.

## Shortcut Keys

Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in LibreOffice. If a key combination in LibreOffice does not work as described in the LibreOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in LibreOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the LibreOffice Help or the Help documention of your operating system.

## File Locking

File locking is enabled by default in LibreOffice. On a network that uses the Network File System protocol (NFS), the locking daemon for NFS clients must be active. To disable file locking, edit the soffice script and change the line `export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING` to `# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING`. If you disable file locking, the write access of a document is not restricted to the user who first opens the document.

## Graphic Performance

By default, LibreOffice favours nice-looking graphics over speed. If you experience slow graphics, switching off 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - Use Anti-Aliasing' may help.

## Important Accessibility Notes

## User Support

The main support page offers various possibilities for help with LibreOffice. Your question may have already been answered — check the Community Forum or search the archives of the 'users@libreoffice.org' mailing list. Alternatively, you can send your questions in. If you like to subscribe to the list (to get email responses), send an empty mail.

Also check the FAQ section.

### Reporting Bugs & Issues

Our system for reporting, tracking and solving bugs is currently BugZilla. We encourage all users to feel entitled and welcome to report bugs that may arise on your particular platform. Energetic reporting of bugs is one of the most important contributions that the user community can make to the ongoing development and improvement of LibreOffice.

### Getting Involved

The LibreOffice Community would very much benefit from your active participation in the development of this important open source project.

As a user, you are already a valuable part of the suite’s development process and we would like to encourage you to take an even more active role with a view to being a long-term contributor to the community. Please join and check out the contributing page.

### How to Start

The best way to start contributing is to subscribe to one or more of the mailing lists, lurk for a while, and gradually use the mail archives to familiarize yourself with many of the topics covered since the LibreOffice source code was released back in October 2000. When you're comfortable, all you need to do is send an email self-introduction and jump right in. If you are familiar with Open Source Projects, check out our To-Dos list and see if there is anything you would like to help with at http://www.libreoffice.org/develop/.

### Subscribe

Here are a few of the mailing lists to which you can subscribe:

News:
  recommended to all users (light traffic)
Main user list:
  easy way to lurk on discussions (heavy traffic) Marketing project:
  beyond development (getting heavy)
General developer list:
  (heavy traffic)

### Joining one or more Projects

You can make major contributions to this important open source project even if you have limited software design or coding experience. Yes, you!

We hope you enjoy working with the new LibreOffice 4.2 and will join us online.

## Used / Modified Source Code

Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.