[SRU] LibreOffice 4.2.5 for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise)

[Mantas Kriaučiūnas]

LibreOffice on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise) is very buggy comparing to current (4.2.5) release from Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty).
LibreOffice packages on Ubuntu 12.04 urgently needs an update to latest supported release 4.2.5 (or newer) for quite a set of critical fixes.

[IMPACT]
 3.5.7 is End of Life since November, 2012!
 Look at https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan#End_of_Life_Releases
 * https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/3.6
 * https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.0
 * https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.1
 * https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.2

A very large number of bugs have been fixed since 3.5.7, far too many to attempt an accurate listing; even counting them accurately is difficult.
However a reasonable estimate is around three thousand bugs just in 4.1 release!

Lots of people still uses Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS release and since end of 2012 they are forced to search correctly working LibreOffice packages.
Some of them installs LibreOffice from upstream deb files - this way is very hard for majority users :(
Other users finds https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-1 and updates LibreOffice from ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-4-2 repo, but this is also not easy way - why LTS users can install supported and up to date Firefox and Chromium like usual updates, but can't install supported and up to date LibreOffice software?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Mantas Kriaučiūnas, would the LIbreOffice PPA backport work for you via https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-1?field.series_filter=precise ?

[Mantas Kriaučiūnas (mantas)]

Yes, LIbreOffice-4.1 PPA backport works fine for me and for ~80 users from Lithuania, where I've installed (or told to users how to add LibreOffice-4.1 PPA repo), but this is not easy way for most simple users, because lots of them doesn't even know about any PPA...
Why Ubuntu LTS users can install supported and up to date Firefox and Chromium like usual updates, but can't install supported and up to date LibreOffice software trought official Ubuntu updates (or backports)?

Btw, LibreOffice 4.1.4 is released - it's good time to prepare official build for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise)

Christopher M. Penalver (penalvch) wrote on 2013-12-15:
> would the LIbreOffice PPA backport work for you via https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-1?field.series_filter=precise

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Mantas Kriaučiūnas, thank you for your providing the requested information. At this point, if folks on Precise LTS are looking for an updated version of LibreOffice, and the PPA won't due, they would want to upgrade to Trusty LTS, as it contains the latest Ubuntu supported version of Ubuntu, with no configuration required.

Despite this, it's ultimately up to the maintainer whether to pursue this SRU request. Although ground work is laid out with the Precise LibreOffice Backport PPA, I don't think it's on the table, given the maintainer supported LibreOffice PPA specifically designed for backports to Precise (this is an enigma for PPAs as typically they are not supported, or used only for testing) and the invasiveness of this SRU request.

[Boaz Dodin (bdcomp)]

As a member of LibreOffice packaging team, I agree with Mantas, the reporter of this bug.

Why so major component like an office suite will be several versions outdated and unsupported (EOL), while:
1. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise) is supported till 2017.
http://www.canonical.com/content/ubuntu-1204-feature-extended-support-period-desktop-users
2. 3.5.7 is EOL since 8/11/2012
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan#End_of_Life_Releases
3. Newer versions (than 3.5.7) successfully compiled for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise) for a long time, partially by me and mostly by Rico Tzschichholz.
https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice
https://launchpad.net/~ricotz
4. 4.1.x series packages downloaded more than 13,000 times from the 4.1.x PPA.
In other words - it's been tested daily by thousands of real users.
https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-1
indicator-ppa-download-statistics, https://launchpad.net/~thebernmeister
5. 4.1.4 released yesterday is the first version also suggested for corporate deployments.
http://blog.documentfoundation.org/2013/12/18/the-document-foundation-announces-libreoffice-4-1-4/

As per all above facts, my suggest is to SRU 4.1.4 version after about a month of testing on 4.1.x PPA.

[Björn Michaelsen (bjoern-michaelsen)]

See:
http://summit.ubuntu.com/uds-1308/meeting/21942/client-1308-rolling-libreoffice/
for details