SoftMaker Free Office now available

[Jerry3904]

A number of users have asked us to make this available, and we have now made it easy to install through MX Package Installer > Popular Applications, Office category. This version is free to use, and upgrades are available from SoftMaker for those wanting them. Details on the website:

https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison ... ker-office

I've only taken a first quick glance but have seen enough that I want to explore it further for eventual office use.

[stevedude]

This is my go-to Office software suite. I've used all of the Linux Office suites and I choose to use Softmaker's because I have a complicated formatted resume' done originally in Microsoft Office by a professional and Softmaker Free Office was the only Linux Suite to open it correctly with all of the formatting.

Thank you for incorporating this into MX Package Installer.

[KBD]

Much thanks Jerry!
This is such a great Office Suite and it is nice not having to worry about file compatibility with Microsoft files in Linux.
Thanks again!

[richb]

First issue I had, it ran out of memory loading my spreadsheet 637 Kb in size.

[KBD]

For some reason I'm not seeing it in the package installer :(

[Jerry3904]

Have you updated ? Try switching repos, it may not have come through yet.

[Stevo]

Installed without any issues here using MXPI.

[KBD]

Have you updated ? Try switching repos, it may not have come through yet.

I got a few updates tonight, one was an update on the package installer, and then it showed up :)
Thanks again for doing this Jerry. I think a lot of folks will enjoy having it easily available.

[chrispop99]

Does spell-check work for others? I can't make it work here. (UK).

I've used Tools>Options>Language to enable 'Use background spell-checking'.

The free version uses Hunspell dictionaries, and Synaptic shows the en_GB one as installed, but when I try to use the dialogue in Tools>Options>Language to install from
/usr/share/hunspell, it complains that it needs the dictionary file in .sox format, which is different from the standard Hunspell format.

Any ideas?

Chris

[chrispop99]

Does spell-check work for others? I can't make it work here. (UK).

I've used Tools>Options>Language to enable 'Use background spell-checking'.

The free version uses Hunspell dictionaries, and Synaptic shows the en_GB one as installed, but when I try to use the dialogue in Tools>Options>Language to install from
/usr/share/hunspell, it complains that it needs the dictionary file in .sox format, which is different from the standard Hunspell format.

Any ideas?

Chris

(Apologies for replying to own post.)

I found that in spite of frequent references to needing Hunspell dictionaries, you actually need to go to the Softmaker website and download a free one in their own .sox format, then install the dictionary into Free Office. This is a similar process that was needed in Libre Office some years ago.

This is a bit of a negative IMHO. At least I have it working now.

Chris