Where to report libreoffice-kde5/kf5 bug?

[Tom_ZeCat]

I had a big, long hassle with LibreOffice 7.2's font drop-down list acting squirly. You can read the long version of my efforts here if you want:

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2467401

But here's the short version. Turns out, if I have libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5, installed, I'm able in LO Writer to use the KDE menu dialogues for finding files to edit. However, with those things installed, the LO Writer's drop down list for choosing the font does not work properly. If I choose a font from the list, that font does't work. However, if I type in its fullname from the list, it works fine.

I've found a work-around. If I uninstall both libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5, the font menu works perfectly, but then I cannot use the KDE file dialogues. I must make do with the LibreOffice ones. I can live with those LO file dialogues if I have . I'll do that until this bug is fixed.

However, do I report this bug to KDE or to Kubuntu?

KDE file dialogue:


LibreOffice file dialogue:

[claydoh]

What is your source for getting 7.2 on *buntu 20.04?

20.04 does not come with LO 7.2, so not Ubuntu, since they are not the source for the libreoffice-kf5 package.

Not KDE, most likely, as they are not the ones who wrote and support the libreoffice-kf5 code.

Probably Libreoffice is the one, but that could also depend on where you got 7.2 packages from. ie it could be due to how it was packaged.

[Goeroeboeroe]

It's a very serious bug, that has been reported already:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...e/+bug/1944113
About half of the dialogue boxes etc aren't working, it makes libreoffice almost unusable.
It has been reported on libreoffice bugs too: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/....cgi?id=144458
So I guess it will be fixed in not too long time, because this is really horrible.
For the moment I use LibreOffice the normal way if I just type (that's most of the time). If I make the final lay-out it's completely unworkable, then I use the solution at the bottom of the first link above (the second solution).
Another trick that sometimes works, for example choosing a font-color: open the dialogue, go to the desired color with tab, and choose with Enter or Spacebar (not click). In some dialogues that works, but not everywhere.

Edit: I have version 7.2.1.2 It's from a PPA. The reason: another very serious bug some time ago, that was fixed in a version Kubuntu 20.04 would not get.

[Tom_ZeCat]

What is your source for getting 7.2 on *buntu 20.04?

20.04 does not come with LO 7.2, so not Ubuntu, since they are not the source for the libreoffice-kf5 package.

Not KDE, most likely, as they are not the ones who wrote and support the libreoffice-kf5 code.

Probably Libreoffice is the one, but that could also depend on where you got 7.2 packages from. ie it could be due to how it was packaged.

Kubuntu had upgraded me to LO 7.2.1.2 via normal updates, which is when the problem first developed. I purged LibreOffice and then reinstalled it via the command line, specifying the plasma version, like so:

1. uninstall/purge

sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

2. Reinstall

 sudo apt install libreoffice-plasma libreoffice

I also did a separate install of LibreOffice via Flatpak. That install of LibreOffice doesn't have the font menu select problem. However, it has other funky interface problems. I've decided not to keep the Flatpak install of LO. Then with the regular install of LO, I'm just not going to install libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5. I can live without the KDE dialogues and will use the LibreOffice dialogues instead.

[Tom_ZeCat]

It's a very serious bug, that has been reported already:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...e/+bug/1944113
About half of the dialogue boxes etc aren't working, it makes libreoffice almost unusable.
It has been reported on libreoffice bugs too: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/....cgi?id=144458
So I guess it will be fixed in not too long time, because this is really horrible.
For the moment I use LibreOffice the normal way if I just type (that's most of the time). If I make the final lay-out it's completely unworkable, then I use the solution at the bottom of the first link above (the second solution).
Another trick that sometimes works, for example choosing a font-color: open the dialogue, go to the desired color with tab, and choose with Enter or Spacebar (not click). In some dialogues that works, but not everywhere.

Edit: I have version 7.2.1.2 It's from a PPA. The reason: another very serious bug some time ago, that was fixed in a version Kubuntu 20.04 would not get.

Okay, thanks for the heads up. At first I wondered if my use of the Page Numbering plugin had caused the problems, but that plugin works perfectly in my Flatpak-installed LibreOffice. I prefer the regular command-line-installed copy of LibreOffice because it boots up much quicker and its interface looks nicer. I've therefore decided to just use the regular install of LibreOffice without libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5 installed. Without those two things installed, the drop-down font menus and other drop-down menus work perfectly. I won't be able to use the KDE file-select dialogue, but the LibreOffice dialogue is perfectly acceptable. They've added a "places" feature. Here it is from my screen:



You can see over in that area on the left named "Places" I have my shortcut folders or "Libraries" as Microsoft would call them. This makes this dialogue perfectly usable. So I'll do that. That's my solution until they fix it. The Flatpak install also works, and I can use the system dialogue from that one. I just don't like that the Flatpak installed one takes longer to load up. Plus, my custom toolbars that I've created look strange in the Flatpak install. However, if you can live with those differences, a Flatpak-installed LibreOffice could be a solution for you.

To recap my solutions:
1. Use a standard command-line install of LO without libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5 installed. Use the LibreOffice file dialogue instead of the KDE one. [My preferred choice]
2. Use a Flatpak-install of LO, and live with LO applications taking longer to load at first, and with custom toolbars looking funky.

Thanks for the bug report link. I'll keep checking back to see when they've fixed it and will just not install libreoffice-kde5 and libreoffice-kf5 until they do.

There's one more thing I noticed. When kde5 is installed and the bug is thus active, if I drop down the font list and then type the full name of the font I want, I can get it to work. I guess solution #3 would be to live with it and do fonts like that, but I like my #1 solution better.

[claydoh]

Or just use a more stable version of LO?.

I am realizing I *only* have 7.0, and don't have the issue unless I install 7.2.1 (KDE neon, so the issue is not specific to the plasma or Qt version)
I usually stick to versions from LO's 'stable' PPA
https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+...ibreoffice-7-0
I find I avoid the small (and not so small) bugaboos, particularly with anything related to libreoffice-kf5 and the like that crop up regularly enough over the past 15+ years of LO/OO.org use.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Or just use a more stable version of LO?.

I am realizing I *only* have 7.0, and don't have the issue unless I install 7.2.1 (KDE neon, so the issue is not specific to the plasma or Qt version)
I usually stick to versions from LO's 'stable' PPA
https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+...ibreoffice-7-0
I find I avoid the small (and not so small) bugaboos, particularly with anything related to libreoffice-kf5 and the like that crop up regularly enough over the past 15+ years of LO/OO.org use.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't realized you could revert to a slightly older version. The 7.2.1.2 version showed up via regular updates on my PC. But I wasn't unhappy with version 7.1.[whichever].

[Goeroeboeroe]

Hurrah! It seems to be 'fixed'. Updated a few minutes ago and the dialog boxes etc I tried worked. That was a really quick fix, but is was a very serious bug too.
If I understand that thread https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...e/+bug/1944113 they've 'fixed' it for the moment by reverting some change.
Well, I remember Chrome on Android one time did something for better accessibility (skip-links outside of the window were finally made working on TalkBack, the screenreader on Android). They reverted it very fast too for about a year, because scrolling was impossible. The skip-links linked worked, but disabling scrolling in a browser isn't a brilliant idea...
Things happen. I'm glad they fixed it so fast.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Hurrah! It seems to be 'fixed'. Updated a few minutes ago and the dialog boxes etc I tried worked. That was a really quick fix, but is was a very serious bug too.
If I understand that thread https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...e/+bug/1944113 they've 'fixed' it for the moment by reverting some change.
Well, I remember Chrome on Android one time did something for better accessibility (skip-links outside of the window were finally made working on TalkBack, the screenreader on Android). They reverted it very fast too for about a year, because scrolling was impossible. The skip-links linked worked, but disabling scrolling in a browser isn't a brilliant idea...
Things happen. I'm glad they fixed it so fast.

Don't celebrate just yet. The update didn't fix it on my PC. In fact, it made matters worse. For me, dropping down the font list to change the font worked the first time, but then when I tried it for another font change, not only did it not work, but it made my LO Writer document freeze up and it was then impossible to edit. I then removed libreoffice-kde5/libreoffice-kf5 via Muon Package Manager, and it no longer had the KDE look, but it worked perfectly. Gone were the KDE file dialogues, replaced by the LibreOffice ones. But they worked.

Therefore, I'm keeping libreoffice-kde5/libreoffice-kf5 off this PC until they fix this bug.

This bug isn't gone. This bug has gotten even worse.

[GreyGeek]

When I did a purge of an app I always *assumed* that it would delete the config files in my home account too. Claydoh pointed out to me that such is not the case. When you purged LO did you go into ~/.config directory and delete the setting in it? I.E.,
~/.config/libreoffice

This would prevent previous configurations from carrying forward.

[Goeroeboeroe]

Hi GreyGeek,
I found out too almost all of the time (not all of the) config-files are not deleted.
About the bug: for me it seems really fixed. (Or 'fixed', if you revert something head over heels...)
I tried changing fonts in several documents, also with restarting no problem.
Very occasionally LibreOffice freezes. It used to do it more often. I wonder if your freeze can be pure coincidence?
Maybe you know this, but to be sure. When LibreOffice freezes or crashes and you restart it, you get the opportunity to restore the document. In far over ten years it happened 2-3 times this didn't work.
There's another solution that worked for me in those rare cases. If you go to the directory in which the document you last edited lives, there's a hidden file named .~lock.name-.of-document-you-worked-on.odt#. If you delete that lock-file, you can start LibreOffice the normal way. (You should check the last document you worked on for possible damage.)

[jglen490]

So I'm confused. I am running Kubuntu 20.04.3.

20.04 came with LO 6.4 and I have LO 6.4.72 as the current install. Kubuntu has NEVER offered an upgrade version beyond anything in the 6.4 range.

I have never set up a LO PPA, and if that's the source of an LO 7 version, fine. But a PPA is not a stock repo.

So is everybody using some PPA? Just wondering.

[Snowhog]

LibreOffice 7.2.1.2 is available directly from LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=win-x86_64&version=7.2.1&lang=ga) as a 64-bit .deb package.

[claydoh]

So I'm confused. I am running Kubuntu 20.04.3.

20.04 came with LO 6.4 and I have LO 6.4.72 as the current install. Kubuntu has NEVER offered an upgrade version beyond anything in the 6.4 range.

I have never set up a LO PPA, and if that's the source of an LO 7 version, fine. But a PPA is not a stock repo.

So is everybody using some PPA? Just wondering.

Aside from grabbing a set of debs manually from LO, the Libroffice PPA(s) are actually made by Document Foundation (LibreOffice) and Ubuntu/Canonical people, and I consider them semi-official but not officially supported by Ubuntu. Though they may, by LO iirc.

Upgrading LO from the 'stock' versions in Linux is not as helpful as it used to be years ago, but if you consider that the version in 20.04, 6.4.7 reached End of Life in November 2020, well.......

I need to upgrade, lol even 7.0 is EOL. next time I need an actual doc file, I'll try and remember to do so. Maybe.

[Tom_ZeCat]

The bug definitely ain't fixed for me. I have problems choosing the font as long as the KDE integration for LibreOffice is installed:
libreoffice-kde5
libreoffice-kf5

So at first I just lived without having that installed, which meant I needed to use the LibreOffice dialogue boxes. However, I tried one other thing. I uinstall/purged LibreOffice:

sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

Then I made sure libreoffice was not in that .config folder. (I just renamed it).

Then I reinstalled LibreOffice, this time using the Gnome setting instead of KDE:

sudo apt install libreoffice-gnome libreoffice

That did the trick. I then copied my LibreOffice user profile back into .config/libreoffice, and all my settings were back. All my plugins run fine, and that problem of choosing fonts is not there anymore. It does look somewhat different, but it's something I can live with. I can now use the gnome-based dialogues within LO, which look perfectly fine, IMO:



I could still use the LibreOffice file dialogues if I wanted to. That's a choice in Tools ==> Options ==> General.

I don't think my LibreOffice Writer looks foreign to KDE. After putting my user profile back in, it works with KDE in my opinion. Here it is:



The settings I pick in Kubuntu's System Settings ==> Application Style make a big difference in how it looks. In any event, I'm happy with this solution and will go with it.

So now my LibreOffice install is Gnome-based instead of KDE. I'll live with that. I can always switch it back to KDE if I ever suspect they've fixed this bug.