Using Openoffice .Org - Raspberry Pi User Manual

C H A P T E R 8
Using OpenOffice org
If you would prefer not to use a cloud-based service, the alternative is to install OpenOffice . o rg .
Designed as an open-source, cross-platform alternative to the popular Microsoft Office suite,
OpenOffice . o rg is powerful and offers just as much functionality as its closed-source inspiration .
That functionality comes at a cost, however . The OpenOffice .org package is large, taking up
nearly 400 MB of space on the Pi's SD card once all the dependencies are included . That can
be a problem: in its default setup, the recommended Debian distribution has less free space
available on the SD card than OpenOffice .org requires . (For more information on the parti-
tion layout of the Debian distribution, see the "File System Layout" section in Chapter 2,
"Linux System Administration" .)
If you want to install OpenOffice .org, you'll need a 4 GB or larger SD card . You'll also need to
resize the root filesystem to make use of the SD card's free space . For instructions on doing
this, see Chapter 5, "Partition Management" . Make sure you perform this task before con-
tinuing with this chapter, or you'll find your Pi's SD card running out of space before you can
use OpenOffice .org .
With enough free space on the SD card, installing OpenOffice .org is no more complex than
installing any other package . Although it comes bundled with a great deal of additional pack-
ages, a single metapackage takes care of everything and installs the software with a single
command . Open a terminal window and type the following:
sudo apt-get install openoffice.org
If you receive error messages saying files are missing when you're installing software like
OpenOffice.org, the package cache is likely out of date. Run the command sudo apt-get
update to refresh the cache, and then try again. (See Chapter 2, "Linux System Administration"
for more details.)
When installed, OpenOffice .org will appear as a series of entries in the Applications Menu in
the Pi's desktop environment . These entries are as follows:
❍ OpenOffice.org—The main application, which provides links to the individual sec-
tions of the suite
❍ OpenOffice.org Calc—The spreadsheet application, equivalent to Microsoft Excel
❍ OpenOffice.org Draw—A vector illustration application, designed for drawing high-
quality scalable images for use as clipart in other OpenOffice .org programs
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