Installing OpenOffice.org 2.0 for Debian

In this introductory article, Jon Watson provides an easy guide to installing the new Open Office source on non-rpm Linux systems. The emphasis is on the use of alien to help convert rpm packages for quick installation to the latest Debian releases.

While the recent release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 (OOo) was eagerly anticipated by the open source community, it has been received with some chagrin. The OOo group released 2.0 in rpm format only. Needless to say, this has some non-rpm GNU/Linux users up in arms. What if you’re a poor Debian user like me? Will I ever get to run OOo 2.0?

Yes! Take heart, for what follows is a tale of how I installed OOo 2.0 on my Kanotix Debian box.

This was a great opportunity to install OpenOffice.org v2.0. I recently upgraded to the release candidate of Kanotix GNU/Linux and since it’s only in release candidate stage, it’s rather ‘lite’. One of the sacrifices to make it ‘lite’ was the absence of OOo. Really. I’m writing this in KWord as I download and install OOo 2.0. I must say that like almost all KDE apps I’ve run across so far, KWord is pretty nice.

But I digress…

Let’s start at the beginning. The system requirement for OOo 2.0 are fairly modest:

* Linux Kernel version 2.2.13 or higher
* glibc2 version 2.2.4 or higher
* Pentium compatible PC
* 64 MB RAM
* 300 MB (CJK version: 350 MB) available hard disk space
* X Server with 800×600 or higher resolution, with at least 256 colors
* Gnome 2.0 or higher required for Assistive Technology Tools
* Window Manager

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