LibreOffice Portable

[JohnTHaller]

[Moderator note: this is the primary portable LibreOffice thread. View database entry]

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PortableApps.com and The Document Foundation have released LibreOffice Portable as a multilingual package. It's a complete office suite based on OpenOffice.org but with additional features and functionality. This is the official portable version hosted by The Document Foundation directly. I've added it to the database here:
http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=2055

[Emka]

Could you correct APPNAME.EXE in the entry?
I would do it myself, but I'm not sure how exactly it is spelled and the application is a bit large for just having a look at the exe's name.

[JohnTHaller]

Could you correct APPNAME.EXE in the entry?
I would do it myself, but I'm not sure how exactly it is spelled and the application is a bit large for just having a look at the exe's name.

Updated to more accurately describe it.

[webfork]

As there's been quite a bit of discussion already in the LibreOffice entry, I'd like to point to some discussion here on the site about it.

[JohnTHaller]

It's also worth pointing out that there are currently no legal packages of OpenOffice.org 3.2.1 or 3.3 portable. As of 3.2.1, you need permission to use the trademark and Oracle has not granted it to anyone, which is why we distribute OpenOffice.org Portable 3.2.0 still. Any site distributing OOo 3.2.1/3.3 portably is doing so illegally. We're still in discussions with Oracle to get the portable version moving again.

[webfork]

So there's an issue with putting LibreOffice in a directory with a space in it.

http://portableapps.com/node/26462

I'd like to add a disclaimer to the main entry as this is an important portability issue, especially for users on restricted machines who can, for example, only write to the desktop. At least on XP, this is always inside a directory with a space in it (/Documents and Settings).

[JohnTHaller]

So there's an issue with putting LibreOffice in a directory with a space in it.

http://portableapps.com/node/26462

I'd like to add a disclaimer to the main entry as this is an important portability issue, especially for users on restricted machines who can, for example, only write to the desktop. At least on XP, this is always inside a directory with a space in it (/Documents and Settings).

I know there are other apps in the directory here at PFC with this exact same restriction but it isn't stated. OpenOffice.org, obviously. Stellarium just used to crash without error if the absolute (not relative) path to your settings had a space in it for the longest time (though I think it works now). OOo and LO also have issues with paths longer than about 40 chars (including the LibreOfficePortable part) due to Windows having an upper limit on path length in many of the APIs that are used internally as they have very long paths within the app itself. So neither LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org Portable would likely work from the Desktop anyway.

I don't know that you can trap for every instance nor does it make sense to list them all. Especially since the space bug has cropped up in some versions of some apps, then been fixed in the next minor version without any announcement. As most users use portable apps from a PortableApps or similar directory in the root of their portable or local drive, we don't usually indicate any issues like this in our listings but we do try to have the launcher or installer detect and mention them so the user can choose to install/run from an alternate location.

If you'd like to add it, you can note that "Note that LibreOffice does not run from paths with spaces or deeply nested sub-directories"

[joby_toss]

I have no problem running OpenOffice portable from a path with a space in it... nor from my Desktop (no space here though...).
win7x64

[JohnTHaller]

I have no problem running OpenOffice portable from a path with a space in it... nor from my Desktop (no space here though...).
win7x64

An older version of OpenOffice.org had this issue but I don't think 3.2.0 does. I think it may be an issue in 3.3.0 as well, which we'll have to trap for once the Oracle conversation is complete.

[webfork]

Usage note: I recommend using file system compression where possible. I got dramatic space savings (from 426 MB to 274), although I didn't test if program speed was impacted.

[guinness]

I finally got around to swapping OpenOffice for LibreOffice and lets just say I don't know why I didn't do it beforehand. The interface feels a lot more polished and speedier compared to its predecessor. Anyone who's looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office, then I highly recommend you check this out.

[webfork]

I finally got around to swapping OpenOffice for LibreOffice and lets just say I don't know why I didn't do it beforehand.

I have been similarly pleased. Additionally, its looking like the difference in activity is making OpenOffice look less and less attractive.

[guinness]

I have been similarly pleased. Additionally, its looking like the difference in activity is making OpenOffice look less and less attractive.

2010 was the last OpenOffice update and as well all know on the Internet, that's 20 years in human years!

[webfork]

I finally got around to swapping OpenOffice for LibreOffice and lets just say I don't know why I didn't do it beforehand.

I have been similarly pleased. Additionally, its looking like the difference in activity is making OpenOffice look less and less attractive.

Just saw that Intel just got on the LibreOffice bandwagon in a pretty big way. Great news.

EDIT: And a lot of other activity.

[webfork]

Oddly one of the places that explains the small army of features that LibreOffice can do is Softpedia's page: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-too ... fice.shtml ... which I think it's a good deal better than LibreOffice's own features page: https://www.libreoffice.org/features/