
LibreOffice 5.3.0 - ronjouch
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/5.3
======
chrisballinger
> Firebird has been upgraded to version 3.0.0. It is unable to read back
> Firebird 2.5 data, so embedded firebird odb files created in LibreOffice
> version up to 5.2 cannot be opened with LibreOffice 5.3. Since a future
> version of firebird will have a backwards compatibility module, some future
> version of LibreOffice (embedding this future version of firebird) will also
> be able to open these older files.

> ODB files created by LibreOffice < 5.3 can be manually converted to
> LibreOffice 5.3 format by using Firebird 2.5 to convert the data to archive
> format, and replacing the database data within the ODB by the archive format
> version. To do this, install a stand-alone Firebird 2.5, and use its "gbak"
> tool to convert the file "database.fdb" to "database.fbk" within the odb
> file. Don't forget to remove the .fdb file.

I don't use this feature so I don't know how popular it is, but it seems like
this could cause a lot of problems for people. They probably shouldn't have
updated to Firebird 3.0.0 until they had an automated migration process in
place, instead of instructing end users to manually convert their old files
from the command line.

~~~
grandinj
Firebird was experimental in 5.2.x so it's unlikely there are many such files
in the wild.

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hysan
Have the fixed the missing grow/shrink feature in the GUI? [1] The bug that's
now a decade old? No? Well that's disappointing... I'll keep using
LibreOffice, but I still can't recommended it to my non-technical friends who
seem to love that effect.

[1]
[https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=48918](https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=48918)

~~~
ac29
Not fixed. Just tested in 5.3.

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znpy
My complaint against openoffice/libreoffice is about their
programming/scripting interface: it is a total mess to deal with.

A couple of weeks ago I had the task to dynamically update the value of two
cells in a calc spreadsheet. I did it, but ended up using a library that build
on a library that builds on ... that build on UNO or whatever it's called.

The api is a mix of C++ and Java, documentation is pretty much non-existing
and code examples are incomplete and ridiculous.

If I had been using excel I could have been using the win32 com api and get it
done in a couple of hours at most.

But don't get me wrong: when doing non-programming stuff it works great!

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ronjouch
Linking to the release notes; downloads live at
[https://www.libreoffice.org/download/](https://www.libreoffice.org/download/)

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compsciphd
So I want to like libreoffice, but its really terribly maintained. features
come and go, practically at whim.

For instance, custom motion paths seem to come and go at whim (still not fixed
in 5.3, and as this bug shows has been a recurring problem)

[https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=76916](https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=76916)

It's hard to rely on it when basic functionality constantly breaks.

~~~
dublinben
I would hardly call that "basic functionality." I've been using LO as my
primary office suite through several schools and jobs, and never felt like it
was broken.

~~~
compsciphd
to me custom paths are a basic function of making interactive/dynamic
presentations.

~~~
keithpeter
I agree with both comments up the tree.

I use LO daily under Linux to produce handouts, simple screen based materials
and spreadsheet models for teaching. My colleagues are blissfully ignorant of
the fact that the materials they sometimes use where _not_ produced in MS
Office on Windows.

I would really like a stable interface for creating interactive materials, but
I'd settle for being able to export a full range of hyperlinked objects in
Impress as a pdf file so that the hyperlinks work. That would get me 95% of
where I would like to be.

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coolspot
Using it every day. Great product!

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brianzelip
OT; there's a recent Changelog podcast[0] that features the dev who translated
LibreOffice to the native tongue of Paraguay.

[0][https://changelog.com/podcast/235](https://changelog.com/podcast/235)

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shmerl
Did breeze-dark icons make it in?

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elyrly
Great alternative to Office

~~~
gima
I think anything is a great alternative to the Office at this point. In
hindsight, LibreOffice's name must've been chosen by a fortune-teller..or a
<strike>pessimist</strike> realist ;)

~~~
symlinkk
what's so bad about Office? I just switched from LO to Office and it's felt
like taking a huge weight off my shoulders - all the weird little UI quirks
and bugs are gone, and everything just works.

~~~
gima
My apologies. My reply was an attempt at political humor. No connection to the
LibreOffice software.

