Why do I need to sudo apt-get install libreoffice-kde ?

[deanr]

After installing LibreOffice from Discover I noticed that the theming and fonts etc. were all awful. I remember having come across this before and managed to fix it with:

sudo apt-get install libreoffice-kde

Why is this fix necessary despite installing from the official KDE software centre? Is this a bug that could/should be fixed?Certainly new users would find this immediately off-putting if they've installed the minimal installation.

[chimak111]

Thanks for posting! I've been using libreoffice-gtk3 but libreoffice-kde5 works nicely with LibreOffice 6.3.

[Don B. Cilly]

Remember the famous scene in "Snatch"?
The Kubuntu version is:
- "Anything to declare?"
- "Yeah. Don't use Discover".
(The haggard face would be just the same..)



[EDIT] For those who are not familiar with it, the 7-second version on youtube is here.

[claydoh]

A normal Kubuntu install includes Libreoffice, and the libreoffice-kde5 package libreoffice-qt5 and libreoffice-style-breeze already.
Apt, Discover, Synaptic, Aptitude, Gnome-Software, Muon, apper, and dpkg have has zero way to know that you use KDE, or that you want the libreoffice-kde5 installed. or libreoffice-qt5 and libreoffice-style-breeze.
Also, do not forget that we are Ubuntu, so it is natural for it to install the Gnome equivalents of these instead as a vastly huge majority of users are using that desktop. So, if you have done a minimal install, and install just the meta-package libreoffice , you get the stock Ubuntu packaging, including Gnome specific icons, theming, etc.. Installing the meta-package libreoffice-kde5 gets you Libreoffice without the Gnome bits, and with the KDE specific extras (it does not remove the Gnome things already installed, if they are present already).

If Kubuntu were its own separate, unique distro with its own separate repositories, and packaged Libreoffice themselves, then the packaging would then want to include KDE-specific things.

fwiw, as far as I can see, all distros use similar packaging techniques to allow for a DE specific LO setup. Ubuntu is using the same concepts and breakdowns as Debian. Debian, however by default includes no desktop integration at all unless the specific meta package ins installed.

ie= butt ugly

[Goeroeboeroe]

Thank you thank you thank you for asking this. I didn't know this and after installing libreoffice-kde5 I the cursor is back in contextual menus!

[woodsmoke]

Hi Deanr

I dunno, I'm running Kubu 19.04 and I just thought I'd check so I went to synaptic and entered Libreoffice-kde.

I got two returns one for "kde" and the second for "kde5" and kde5 was ticked as being installed.

I do not remember installing Libre office on this machine because it is the "television multimedia" machine, so it would "seem", and I may be wrong I may have actually installed it, that it came with the distro and kde5 theme installed. Maybe somebody more knowledgable can correct me on this, and if so that would be great, after all I AM older than dirt!

just sayin'
woodsmoke

[deanr]

...Apt, Discover, Synaptic, Aptitude, Gnome-Software, Muon, apper, and dpkg have has zero way to know that you use KDE, or that you want the libreoffice-kde5 installed. or libreoffice-qt5 and libreoffice-style-breeze.
Also, do not forget that we are Ubuntu, so it is natural for it to install the Gnome equivalents of these instead as a vastly huge majority of users are using that desktop...If Kubuntu were its own separate, unique distro with its own separate repositories, and packaged Libreoffice themselves, then the packaging would then want to include KDE-specific things.

I must admit I didn't know this. I'd presumed (wrongly it seems) that each distro tested and packaged its own programs. This explains a lot.

Interesting too that some more experienced and long in the tooth Kubuntu users were unaware of this so there's clearly a lack of clarity regarding this issue - and given the massive popularity of LibreOffice one that I presume has caused lots of frustration over the years.

I'm a complete newbie so I don't know anything about packaging and providing PPAs etc. but I do wonder whether Discover (and Muon?), for example, being the dedicated package manager for Kubuntu/KDE couldn't be programmed to include libreoffice-kde by default OR on the description for the LibreOffice download contain an asterisk *Please note: For Kubuntu/KDE desktop environments you need to install the extra package libreoffice-kde.

Perhaps this is completely unrealistic but just a thought to help future (and current, it seems) Kubuntu users

[claydoh]

Hi Deanr

I dunno, I'm running Kubu 19.04 and I just thought I'd check so I went to synaptic and entered Libreoffice-kde.

I got two returns one for "kde" and the second for "kde5" and kde5 was ticked as being installed.

I do not remember installing Libre office on this machine because it is the "television multimedia" machine, so it would "seem", and I may be wrong I may have actually installed it, that it came with the distro and kde5 theme installed. Maybe somebody more knowledgable can correct me on this, and if so that would be great, after all I AM older than dirt!

just sayin'
woodsmoke

The packaging used to be libreoffice-kde, but it is now -kde5, probably because Debian still has some of the crusty KDE4 stuff about - there is still a -kde4 one there.
The -kde package just points to the -kde5 one.

apt search libreoffice-kde
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
libreoffice-kde/disco-updates,disco-updates,disco-security,disco-security 1:6.2.5-0ubuntu0.19.04.1 all
  transitional package for LibreOffice KDE integration

libreoffice-kde5/disco-updates,disco-security 1:6.2.5-0ubuntu0.19.04.1 amd64
  office productivity suite -- KDE 5 integration

[woodsmoke]

Thanks Claydoh!

woody

[acheron]

I'm a complete newbie so I don't know anything about packaging and providing PPAs etc. but I do wonder whether Discover (and Muon?), for example, being the dedicated package manager for Kubuntu/KDE couldn't be programmed to include libreoffice-kde by default OR on the description for the LibreOffice download contain an asterisk *Please note: For Kubuntu/KDE desktop environments you need to install the extra package libreoffice-kde.

A few problems with that.

If done at upstream KDE level, there would need to be recognition and adjustment for the package names of each possible distro. Each can use different conventions to name packages.

If done at distro level, this would require patching and maintaining said patch in the discover packaging. As plasma and especially discover has a high turnover of code changes, the maintenance of that could be a fair bit of work.

There would cases where even this would causes issues. For example Lubuntu desktop based on LXQT installs and and uses discover, but is not a 'KDE' desktop in that sense. They use libreoffice, but to suit their integration better they have gone with recommending the -gtk3 frontend over the -kd3 one. So discover assuming the -kde one is needed could be problematical there.

I am sure all is solvable, but the amount of effort required is maybe disproportionate here.

[deanr]

Fair enough. I mean, the solution is out there (and in here) on the web so hopefully this thread as well will be able to help others that go hunting online for what is essentially a pretty straightforward solution.

[chimak111]

Fair enough. I mean, the solution is out there (and in here) on the web so hopefully this thread as well will be able to help others that go hunting online for what is essentially a pretty straightforward solution.

I'm sorry but your case may not be typical. As claydoh pointed out, libreoffice-kde is provided by default along with libreoffice if you install Kubuntu. So that's the straightforward situation.

However,
if a user chooses the minimal install option at the time of installing, all libreoffice components are removed. You have not made it clear, IIRC, why it is that you had the need to install libreoffice on Kubuntu when it's already present if you did the full install.

If your installation is relatively recent, you can use something like

zgrep libreoffice-kde /var/log/apt/history.log.15.gz > ~/Desktop/deanr.txt

On my system history.log.15.gz is the oldest. Change that to whatever's oldest on your system.

Then, if your install was normal, there'll be an ultra-long line beginning with

Commandline: apt-get --yes -oDebug:kgDepCache::AutoInstall=yes

and that line will include libreoffice-kde.

[deanr]

Thank you thank you thank you for asking this. I didn't know this and after installing libreoffice-kde5 I the cursor is back in contextual menus!

I'm glad you found this thread and the solution useful. A quick search online for 'ugly', 'LibreOffice', 'KDE' etc. shows that this is actually quite a common issue for KDE users.

[Goeroeboeroe]

I'm glad you found this thread and the solution useful. A quick search online for 'ugly', 'LibreOffice', 'KDE' etc. shows that this is actually quite a common issue for KDE users.

You don't want to know how many searches I did about this issue. Most of the time I'm pretty well able to find an answer. Probably I used this time the wrong search terms.

127 ugly words. I tried searching on your search terms 'ugly libreoffice kde' and it rained solutions. I searched for more specifics terms like focus and cursor. So it were indeed the wrong search terms I used.