Unless you’ve been in an isolation chamber, you’ve probably noticed that OpenOffice.org 3.0 was released yesterday. It’s been a while in the coming and now the latest version of our favourite, and most affordable, office suite is here.
If you’re running Ubuntu (or another .deb-based OS) then you’re in luck. Debian versions of OOo are now available on most download sites (SA-based users check out these mirrors for a download) and installing OOo 3.0 is fairly straightforward. We explain:
First, remove your existing version of OpenOffice.org:
sudo apt-get remove openoffice*.*
Next, download a copy of OpenOffice.org 3.0 (OOo_3.0.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz worked for us) and extract the download:
tar -zxvf OOo_3.0.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz
That will create a directory called something like OOO300_m9_native_packed-1_en-US.9358.
Switch into the DEBS directory in that directory:
cd OOO300_m9_native_packed-1_en-US.9358/DEBS/
Now all you need to do is install all of those .deb packages:
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
That will do the trick. Once you’ve given your password your system should install all of the required files.
With that done you should have just one thing left to do: Install the desktop integration package. That should be in the DEBS folder:
cd desktop-integration
From that folder install the package:
sudo dpkg -i openoffice.org3.0-debian-menus_3.0-9354_all.deb
If everything works out you should be able to open OpenOffice.org 3.0 from the Applications menu on your desktop.
Disclaimer: It is always a good idea to backup your important stuff before removing applications and installing new ones.