Installing StarOffice 8 on a Debian-Based Platform

StarOffice is the highly desirable productivity suite that has made a lot of progress since the days of Version 3.1; when it was still the brainchild of StarDivision's Marco Börries. You can get a historical look at StarOffice 5.2 (from 2000.05.16) right here.

Version 8 has been 'out' for a few months now (since 2005.09), and we're seeing adoption moving along nicely.

StarOffice 8, like its OpenSource counterpart, OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, sports ODF as its default document creation format, and has quite a number of useful and stable features which makes either a highly desirable replacement for the ever-expensive, unstable, vendor lock-in 'microsoft office'. Upon this basis alone, it is worth our time to download and install either or both.

Unfortunately, along with the increased uptake of the office suite, we are also seeing reports of some confusion over how to install StarOffice onto the variety of GNU/Linux-based systems out there. This is understandable, since the earlier StarOffice installation routines were 'fall-down-easy' to deal with--unlike the current installation process for StarOffice 8.

Between our conversations with individuals having such complaints about installation, and our own testing; we have reached the conclustion that, while the majority of such installation problems stem from simple unfamiliarity, the recommended installation procedures do result in a non-functional SO8 installation on a sub-set of Debian-based GNU/Linux installations (definitely often enough to stop a few Linux adoptees dead in their tracks).

In this article, you will learn how to install StarOffice 8 to a Debian-based GNU/Linux system. The methods presented will allow you to deal with nearly any Debian-based distro with essentially identical results. Our test systems will be two different releases of SimplyMEPIS--the venerable 2004-4 release and the more recent 3.3.1 offering.

Note: The SimplyMEPIS release 3.4-3 was used for two timed-test runs, in order to give you an idea of how long it should take you to install StarOffice 8. Test 1 involved the entire process, including downloading the required files from Sun, Inc. Test 2 consisted of installing StarOffice 8 from the 32 Debian packages stored on a Compact Flash Card.

Before we get started...
I'm going to warn you that this particular Point-N-Click article--contrary to my intentions--will wander briefly into the realm of the console session. It's an unavoidable, but very quick and light-weight detour; so don't worry about that it much. You will know exactly what to do when the time comes.

The article images have been thumbnailed and linked to the full-sized images, so you can follow along with readable examples to guide you.

Materials:

1. A functioning Debian-based GNU/Linux installation, with either the Gnome or KDE Desktop Environment. We use KDE.
2. alien must be installed on your system. (A near-certainty.)
3. The Red Hat Package Manager must be installed on your system. (You probably already have this.)
4. The gcc, make, debhelper, dpkg-dev, and dpkg packages must be installed on your system. (You also probably already have these.)
5. Kpackage or synaptic should be installed on your system. We use Kpackage.
6. The following three files, downloaded from Sun Microsystems:
        so-8-ga-bin-linux-en-US.sh (File Size=205,272,572 Bytes, Owner=root, Access Rights=-rwxr-xr-x)
        StarOffice_Basic_Guide_en-US.PDF (File Size=12,390 Bytes, Owner=root, Access Rights=-rw-r--r--)
        StarOffice_Getting_Started_Guide_en-US.PDF (File Size=1,236,758 Bytes, Owner=root, Access Rights=-rw-r--r--)
   NOTE:  I will not e-mail you copies of the files, nor will I host them on this server--in any form.
               Asking (even using, "Pretty-Please!") will not change this fact.

Downloading StarOffice 8
While logged-in as a normal user, visit the Sun StarOffice 8 web page and download so-8-ga-bin-linux-en-US.sh, StarOffice_Basic_Guide_en-US.PDF and StarOffice_Getting_Started_Guide_en-US.PDF to your desktop.

When you're done, you should have something like this:

Log out of your normal user session, disconnect your network cable or modem cord, and log back in as root so we can begin the the installation.

The installation information contained in the .pdf is reproduced below for you:

Along with some further information contained in a README file that you can't access just yet.

------------------------------------------------------------
StarOffice[tm] 8 Office Suite

------------------------------------------------------------

This file contains important information about this program. 
Please read this information very carefully before starting work.

You can find the latest information on the web at www.sun.com/staroffice
------------------------------------------------------------
Notes on Installation
------------------------------------------------------------

System Requirements:

- Linux Kernel version 2.4 or higher
- glibc2 version 2.2.4 or higher
- Pentium compatible PC (Pentium III or Athlon recommended)
- 128 MB RAM (256 MB RAM recommended)
- 400 MB (Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 550 MB, 
  multi-language version: 900 MB) available hard disk space
- X Server with 800x600 or higher resolution, with at least 256 colors
- Gnome 2.6 or higher required for support of assistive technology
  tools (AT tools) via Java accessibility support
- Window Manager

The UNIX versions of StarOffice cannot be installed on a (V)FAT 
partition, since FAT file systems do not support the creation of 
symbolic links. The path for the StarOffice installation directory 
must not contain a space.

If you use Debian linux, you need to use the "alien" command to 
install StarOffice. To install the complete office suite, become 
root and type the following command:

alien -i -k RPMS/*.i586.rpm

------------------------------------------------------------
Updating an Existing Adabas Database to Adabas D 13
------------------------------------------------------------

Before you install the Adabas D 13 database application, you 
need to remove older versions of Adabas D from your operating 
system. To remove an older Adabas D application, use the 
corresponding StarOffice setup application. Do not delete the 
database files.

------------------------------------------------------------
Shortcut Keys
------------------------------------------------------------

Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating 
system can be used in StarOffice. If a key combination in 
StarOffice does not work as described in the StarOffice 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 StarOffice. For more information on this topic, 
refer to the StarOffice Help or the Help documention of your 
operating system.

------------------------------------------------------------
File System ReiserFS: StarOffice Will Not Start for User IDs 
Larger Than 65535
------------------------------------------------------------

In versions lower than 3.6, the file system ReiserFS causes a 
problem as soon as the user ID is larger than 65535. The problem 
is that files temporarily saved by StarOffice can no longer be 
removed by the program itself, but rather only by the system 
administrator (e.g. /tmp/OSL_PIPE_xxx ). The result is that 
StarOffice cannot be started. The problem is in the ReiserFS 
file system and has been fixed in version 3.6 and higher.

------------------------------------------------------------
File Locking
------------------------------------------------------------

In the default setting, file locking is turned off in StarOffice. 
To activate it, you have to set the appropriate environment 
variables SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING=1 and export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING. 
These entries are already in disabled form in the soffice script file.

Warning: The activated file locking feature can cause problems 
with Solaris 2.5.1 and 2.7 used in conjunction with Linux NFS 
2.0. If your system environment has these parameters, we strongly 
recommend that you avoid using the file locking feature. Otherwise, 
StarOffice will hang when you try to open a file from a NFS mounted 
directory from a Linux computer.

------------------------------------------------------------
Using Info-ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------

StarOffice uses Info-ZIP to create and unpack the StarOffice 
installation, as well as for packing and unpacking the StarOffice 
XML file format. Info-ZIP programs (ZIP, UnZip and other utilities) 
are available free of charge and can be used in the source code and 
as an executable program. They can be attained by visiting Anonymous 
FTP sites such as ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.

Now that we know what the instructions say, we're going to ignore pretty-much everything they have to say about installing SO8.

Using Konqueror File Manager, create the following directory branch in the / (root) of your file system:

/inst/StarOffice/8/Linux

Return to the desktop directory into which you downloaded so-8-ga-bin-linux-en-US.sh, StarOffice_Basic_Guide_en-US.PDF and StarOffice_Getting_Started_Guide_en-US.PDF; select and (right-click) 'cut' all three files.

Paste all three files into the newly created directory, as shown below:

Now, right-click in an empty spot in the above directory pane, and select 'Actions' → 'Open Terminal Here'. See the below image for clarification.

You will be greeted by the opening of the 'much-maligned, much-dreaded' console session screen.

Type in the exact sequence of characters on the next line (or copy & past them into the console screen) to begin the process:

chmod 755 so-8-ga-bin-linux-en-US.sh; ./so-8-ga-bin-linux-en-US.sh

Then press the 'enter' key.

You will receive the following prompt, asking where the installation files should be placed, and a bit of a suggestion as to how you might want to respond:

Respond to the prompt with the following EXACT response:

/inst/StarOffice/8/Linux/so8

The file will be checked for errors and unpacked into the /inst/StarOffice/8/Linux/so8 directory.

On some systems, you will receive an error response "Try 'uname --help' for more information." as well. This is ok, and the very reason this help file was written for you.

The StarOffice 8 Installation Wizard will probably appear on your screen at this point:

Click "cancel" (as I mention that the choice of splash graphic colors could have been better).

Then click "exit". The installer should terminate with a '0022' exit code.

As far as the automated process of StarOffice installation is concerned, we have almost exactly what we want from it. We'll be creating the rest of what we need, and working with that, from this point-on.

If you recall, from reading the README text, the recommendation for installation on Debian systems is to type 'alien -i -k RPMS/*.i586.rpm' at the console prompt. Don't bother. This does not work on all systems, and I'm wagering that it has much to do with the liberties taken in modifying a 'stock-Debian' to produce some of the distros that we are using today. This command will additionally leave you with nothing except a directory containing 32 .rpm files, which aren't much use for any further SO8 installations you may have to do on other Debian-based systems.

Next, type in the following two commands exactly, or copy & paste them into the console session--striking the 'enter' key after each command:

cd so8/RPMS

and

alien *.rpm

...or combine both commands:

cd so8/RPMS; alien *.rpm

and hit the 'Enter' key only once.

While you take a moment to get a cup of coffee (or a nice, cold, Pepsi); the alien utility will create a debian package for each rpm package unpacked earlier--32 in all. These are what we are interested in having and keeping.

[4 to 12 minutes later] Are you back with me again?

Good.

Compare the generated files against the above full-res screen capture to make sure you have everything (remember that there should be 32 files generated). If so, type:

exit

and strike the 'enter' key.

We have just finished everything we need to do in a single console session--with only four or five command entries. It's Point-N-Click from here on.

This is what your /inst/StarOffice/8/Linux directory should look like now, through KFM:

Enter the 'so8' directory by single-clicking or double-clicking on the folder icon (depending on how your system is configured), then enter the 'RPMS' directory in the same manner.

Highlight all of the '.deb' files ('Ctrl' + left-click) as a single group; then right-click and select 'Cut'.

Navigate to the /root directory (the home directory for the root user) and create a directory named 'so8-deb'.

Enter the 'so8-deb' directory by single-clicking or double-clicking on the folder icon (depending on how your system is configured).

Right-click in the empty directory pane, and select 'Paste'.

You should now have the 32 Debian packages in your /root/so8-deb directory, as you can see below; which will serve nicely as a local package repository.

Fire-up the KPackage, package manager. Select 'Settings' from the menubar.

Enable APT: Debian and click on the 'Location of Packages...' button.

Select the 'F2' tab and fill-in the first vacant field as shown above. Be sure to click the check box to enable the use of the 'file:/root/so8-deb' repository we created earlier.

Click the requisite 'OK's to close each pane, and click the Reload button: or

Select the 'New' tab and expand the 'alien' and 'NEW' package categories.

Mark each of the following 32 packages for installation:

        adabas
        jre_1.5.0
        staroffice-agfafonts
        staroffice-base
        staroffice-calc
        staroffice-core01
        staroffice-core02
        staroffice-core03
        staroffice-core03u
        staroffice-core04
        staroffice-core04u
        staroffice-core05
        staroffice-core05u
        staroffice-core06
        staroffice-core07
        staroffice-core08
        staroffice-core09
        staroffice-core10
        staroffice-desktop-integration
        staroffice-draw
        staroffice-fonts
        staroffice-gallery
        staroffice-gnome-integration
        staroffice-graphicfilter
        staroffice-impress
        staroffice-javafilter
        staroffice-lngutils
        staroffice-math
        staroffice-ooofonts
        staroffice-suse-menus
        staroffice-writer
        staroffice-xsltfilter

Click on the 'Install Marked' button at the lower-left of the KPackage window.

Select the checkboxes 'Allow Downgrade', 'Check Conflicts', 'Check Dependencies', 'Test (do not install)' and 'Keep this window'.

Click the 'Install' button and watch the test output in the results window.

If you have any error condition message other than additional dependencies being installed, resolve any such issue before going further with this installation.

If, on the other hand, you wind-up with a 'RESULT=0' output; deselect the 'Test (do not install)' checkbox and click the 'Install' button. You can now tap your toes on the floor while you wait a couple of minutes.

When your KPackage results window looks like the one shown above ('RESULT=0' is what you want to see.), click the 'Done' button, and you should be rewarded with this sight in the package browser:

Click the Done button: or to close KPackage.

Your K-Menu application link stack for 'Office' should now look substantially similar to this (at least at the very bottom):

Here, we're launching StarOffice 8 Writer--yes, still as root--to get the preliminaries out of the way:

When you do a first-run of StarOffice 8 as a normal user, the following screens will differ (a five-step process, actually) from those you see here--running SO8 as root.

Here is our 'Welcome to StarOffice 8' greeting.

Where we can read the license agreement.

Enter our first name, last name and initials.

...and choose our registration options. I've already registered with Sun, so I skipped the whole thing by telling them so.

Writer finishes launching with another look at that splash screen...and...here's so8 - Writer:

I immediately noticed that StarOffice 8 inherits the widget style (some call this 'skinning') from KDE...I didn't have to do a thing. While this isn't a big issue for me, I can imagine that many of those who rabidly configure 'skinning' for a variety of applications will appreciate this immediate inheritance of system settings.

StarOffice 8 Writer, like its predecessors, does pretty-much what you would expect from any word processing application, so there really isn't any need for me to go into what you already know about what word processor does--or should do. Unlike 'microsoft word' of course, rendering any document directly to .pdf is still standard equipment.

Simply click on and congratulate yourself on having saved a few hundred dollars on the cost of creating and sharing .pdf documents.

Who needs Acrobat? (Particularly at the ridiculous price of $299.00 US! [as of 2006.04.14])

If you need the standard set of True Type fonts that comes with your run-of-the-mill microsoft system, step-over to that machine and burn the entire C:\WINDOWS\FONTS\ subdirectory (along with any other .ttf files resident on that system) to a cd and import them into your Linux-based installation. They will be ready for use in StarOffice, as well as other your Linux applications.

No Real Differences
Functionally speaking, there is nothing overtly different about StarOffice 8 Writer, and that's a good thing. If you've used StarOffice 7 Writer to any degree, you'll feel right at home with this newest version. If, on the other hand, you've never used StarOffice at all--having only used 'microsoft word'--you will be able to do nearly all of what you used to do in 'word' with very few problems at all.

It's that last piddling percent or so of what you used to do in 'word' that is falsely decried as the 'steep learning curve'. You'll easily be able to perform those 'steep-learning-curve' tasks by glancing through the StarOffice documentation .pdf, integrated help files, or simply exploring on your own. The majority of differences really amount to minor variations in menu placement and terminology.

Scripting, a la 'word', is non-functional in StarOffice, although 'word'-based scripting can be preserved within the document itself, saved and later executed within 'word'--if there's a rational reason to use such an insecure scripting environment. StarOffice does sport its own scripting language for macro functions which possesses none of the failings of 'word' scripting facilities.

Why use either StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, instead of 'word'?
Unless you already have a huge dependence upon 'word' scripting or online collaborative tools, you really have no need to use 'ms word' and plenty of reasons not to. This probably amounts to something approaching 99% of the 'word' userbase--to put it in terms that would chill the spine of anyone up to their eyeballs with 'MSFT' in their stock portfolio.

One of the chief reasons anyone should consider using StarOffice 8 is that it happens to come at a savings of $267.96, as compared to 'microsoft office standard edition 2003 - Retail'. Then again, there are those who are still functioning under the illusion that either; you get what you pay for, or they--somehow--got ms office free with the purchase of their personal computer.

If you feel that price is the defining factor in the actual worth of a productivity suite, great! I'll sell you the perfect productivity suite for $1000.00 (US). Much better than that 'ms office' you've been using all these years.

Nobody ever received 'microsoft office' for free...or, in other words, "It came 'free' with my computer!" No. It didn't. You paid for it. Probably to the tune of $99.00 or more; for an OEM version. OEM versions are, according to the agreement you never bothered to read when you clicked on "I Agree", licensed specifically to the machine onto which they were installed. They are not licensed to human beings at all. When the machine dies, so does your license.

Pretty good scam, if you ask me--only because it has found so many willing victims.

OK. So, why use StarOffice, instead of ms office?

1. Your data (documents, if you will) are stored in an openly specified document format that cannot be made proprietary by any vendor--subject to forced upgrades or additional licensing fees for future access--unlike microsoft office, and what they are trying to pull-over on the public with the faux-xml-standard.
2. StarOffice has better compatibility with microsoft document formats than microsoft does.
   • Open and edit a word 95 document with word 2003, save it, then send it to a collegue.
   • Your word-2003-less collegue would need to use StarOffice 8 Writer to open the document, because all he happens to have is an older machine with an office 95 installation on it.
   • StarOffice doesn't need kluges like this or this.
   • By the time you have followed microsoft's lead in their telling you where you want to go today; you'll have paid the king's ransom for office 2003, after having travelled a very long and expensive forced software upgrade and licensing path.
3. StarOffice is more secure and stable than ms office--by several orders of magnitude.
4. Microsoft wants a license fee for each machine upon which the software is installed. Simultaneous use is no longer a factor for consideration, since simultaneous use is assumed as a fact of installation. Sun makes no such assumptions, and here is their grant of permitted use in their license agreement:
   • "3. Permitted Use.
     As selected in your Entitlement, one or more of the following Permitted Uses will apply to your use of Software. Unless you have an Entitlement that expressly permits it, you may not use Software for any of the other Permitted Uses. If you don't have an Entitlement, or if your Entitlement doesn't cover additional software delivered to you, then such software is for your Evaluation Use.
     (a) Evaluation Use. You may evaluate Software internally for a period of 90 days from your first use.
     (b) Research and Instructional Use. You may use Software internally to design, develop and test, and also to provide instruction on such uses.
     (c) Individual Use. You may use Software internally for personal, individual use.
     (d) Commercial Use. You may use Software internally for your own commercial purposes.
     (e) Service Provider Use. You may make Software functionality accessible (but not by providing Software itself or through outsourcing services) to your end users in an extranet deployment, but not to your affiliated companies or to government agencies.
   • 4. Licensed Units.
     Your Permitted Use is limited to the number of Licensed Units stated in your Entitlement. If you require additional Licensed Units, you will need additional Entitlement(s)."
   My entitlement happens to place no limit upon the number of machines that I may install and use StarOffice 8.
   I have read of other grants of entitlement which place a limit upon installations which result in 5 simultaneous users of the software.
   Stop and consider that for a moment:
   • If I want to install ms office on 5 machines in my home, that would cost me $337.95 * 5 computers = $1689.75 (excluding taxes and any S&H) to legally license a single program for the use of my children--forget my wife and myself.
   • Under the license granted by Sun Microsystems, I would only have to pay a single instance of $69.99, and we're all covered.
   • Furthermore, if a computer dies, there's no question that we can reinstall with Sun.
   • In ms-land, Steve Ballmer--the microsoft high-price maven--would be kicking your front door in to rip the 'C-notes' out of your wallet.
5. According to microsoft's license agreement, you don't have the right to copy the software. Sun grants you such fair use archival rights:
   • "5. Restrictions.
     (a) The copies of Software provided to you under this Agreement are licensed, not sold, to you by Sun. Sun reserves all rights not expressly granted.
     (b) You may make a single archival copy of Software, but otherwise may not copy, modify, or distribute Software."
6. The warranty offered by Sun is just as good as, or better than, that offered by microsoft:
   • 8. Limited Warranty.
     Sun warrants to you that for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase, as evidenced by a copy of the receipt, the media on which Software is furnished (if any) will be free of defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. Except for the foregoing, Software is provided "AS IS". Your exclusive remedy and Sun's entire liability under this limited warranty will be at Sun's option to replace Software media or refund the fee paid for Software. Some states do not allow limitations on certain implied warranties, so the above may not apply to you. This limited warranty gives you specific legal rights. You may have others, which vary from state to state.
   • 9. Disclaimer of Warranty.
     UNLESS SPECIFIED IN THIS AGREEMENT, ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT THESE DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.
   • 10. Limitation of Liability.
     TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL SUN OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUE, PROFIT OR DATA, OR FOR SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF SUN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. In no event will Sun's liability to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, exceed the amount paid by you for Software under this Agreement. The foregoing limitations will apply even if the above stated warranty fails of its essential purpose. Some states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, so some of the terms above may not be applicable to you.
   If you think I'm wrong in this...prove it...using microsoft's own EULA.
7. Since I'm really talking to the Linux users out there, installing StarOffice is a heckuva-lot easier and cheaper than messing around with Crossover Office, or ms office and WINE or Win4Lin.
8. Every reason I've given you, above (and there are plenty more), applies to OpenOffice.org.

K-Menu Weirdness
The overwhelming majority of StarOffice 8 installations that I've done have been left with slightly broken K-Menu-age. The most complete Menu I've gotten from an installation has been limited to: Base, Calc, Draw, Impress, Printer Administration, and Writer. This omits menu entries for 'From Template', 'HTML Document', and 'Math'.

The SUN-supplied documentation yields no direct treatment of adding menu items and, since you may run into missing menu entries on your own systems; here's a rundown-on resolving the menu weirdness that you'll see from time to time.

If you run staroffice from the command line with the '-h' switch, you'll get the following blurb of helpful text:

example.user@1[~]$ soffice -h
StarOffice 8  680m124(Build:8945)

Usage: example.user@1[~]$ soffice [options] [documents...]

Options:

-minimized    keep startup bitmap minimized.
-invisible    no startup screen, no default document and no UI.
-norestore    suppress restart/restore after fatal errors.
-quickstart   starts the quickstart service (only available on windows platform)
-nologo       don't show startup screen.
-nolockcheck  don't check for remote instances using the installation
-nodefault    don't start with an empty document
-headless     like invisible but no user interaction at all.
-help|-h|-?   show this message and exit.
-writer       create new text document.
-calc         create new spreadsheet document.
-draw         create new drawing.
-impress      create new presentation.
-base         create new database.
-math         create new formula.
-global       create new global document. {1}
-web          create new HTML document.
-o            open documents regardless whether they are templates or not.
-n            always open documents as new files (use as template).

-display <display>
      Specify X-Display to use in Unix/X11 versions.
-p <documents...>
      print the specified documents on the default printer.
-pt <printer> <documents...>
      print the specified documents on the specified printer.
-view <documents...>
      open the specified documents in viewer-(readonly-)mode.
-show <sxi-document>
      open the specified presentation and start it immediately
-accept=<accept-string>
      Specify an UNO connect-string to create an UNO acceptor through which
      other programs can connect to access the API
-unaccept=<accept-sring>
      Close an acceptor that was created with -accept=<accept-string>
      Use -unnaccept=all to close all open acceptors
Remaining arguments will be treated as filenames or URLs of documents to open.

As I mentioned before, you will sometimes see missing entries in your K-Menu Office panel. To assist you in adding those entries on your own, here is the 'Menu Editor' ordering and field syntax that I've used for my own installations:

Name: StarOffice 8 Base Comment: Manage databases, create queries and reports to track and manage your information by using Base. Command: staroffice8 -base -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-base Name: StarOffice 8 Drawing Comment: Create and edit drawings, flow charts, and logos by using Draw. Command: staroffice8 -draw -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-draw Name: StarOffice 8 From Template Comment: Command: staroffice8 -n -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-main Name: StarOffice 8 HTML Document Comment: Create and edit text and graphics in Web pages. Command: staroffice8 -web -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-main Name: StarOffice 8 Math Comment: Create and edit graphically formatted mathematical formulas. Command: staroffice8 -math -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-math Name: StarOffice 8 Presentation Comment: Create and edit presentations for slideshows, meeting and Web pages by using Impress. Command: staroffice8 -impress -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-impress Name: StarOffice 8 Printer Administration Comment: Configure and administer your printers for StarOffice. Command: staroffice8 -printeradmin -nologo Icon: staroffice8-printeradmin Name: StarOffice 8 Spreadsheet Comment: Perform calculation, analyze information and manage lists in spreadsheets by using Calc. Command: staroffice8 -calc -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-calc Name: StarOffice 8 Text Document Comment: Create and edit text and graphics in letters, reports, documents and Web pages by using Writer. Command: staroffice8 -writer -nologo %U Icon: staroffice8-writer

Right-click on your 'K-Menu' and select 'Menu Editor'

...and the Menu Editor application will launch.

Right-click on 'Office' and select 'New Item...'.

From the table above, select the name of the first StarOffice 8 application that somehow didn't make it into your K-Menu, and type it into the 'New Item' entry panel.

No. Don't use 'Firefox' for the name. (I'm just reusing an image from the article below this one.)
When you click 'OK' or hit 'Enter', you will be confronted with an entry panel having 'Name:', 'Description:', 'Comment:', and 'Command:' fields available for you to fill-in. Use the table above to guide you in the text input.

The '-nologo' switch is optional. I use it to suppress the startup splash image.

You can select the Icon used to represent the menu entries by clicking on:

...and browsing the icons available under your currently selected icon theme.

Other Icon Sets are available for your use, depending upon your system-wide theme settings.

At this point in time, you can now log out of your root session and reconnect your network cable or modem cord

Log back in as a normal user and configure your K-Menu--if necessary--and, if you're so inclined, download the StarOffice 8 Software Development Kit (SDK) and install it. (Something to occupy that spare time that you have no idea what to do with.)

I sat down with a machine that qualifies as nobody's speed deamon--sporting a SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 installation--to time just how long the above process will take the average user who is fairly used to getting around in a point→n→click desktop environment.

'Mr. Stopwatch' told me that following the above recipe consumed 44 minutes and 17 seconds of my life. Including downloading the 3 StarOffice 8 files.

In an alternate scenario--wherein the '.deb' files live somewhere inside a USB 2.0-connected Compact Flash Card--I was finished and walking away from the computer in less than 9 minutes.

Gabston-Howell.org and are registered service marks of Allan Gabston-Howell.
Point→N→Click→Help^® is a registered trademark of Allan Gabston-Howell, Gabston-Howell.org (NPO).
© 1989-2006, Allan Gabston-Howell, Gabston-Howell.org (NPO).
Print rights for all material herein are strictly reserved by Allan Gabston-Howell, Gabston-Howell.org (NPO).
Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original content on this website is licensed under the "By/NC/SA 3.0" Creative Commons Deed.

Linux^® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.