Ubuntu
openoffice.org package

  1. Bug #54776
  2. Comment #65

Comment 65 for bug 54776

Revision history for this message
disabled.user (disabled.user-deactivatedaccount) wrote : Re: [Edgy] font hinting does not work with libfreetype6 v. 2.2.1

Since none of the proposed workarounds here seem to work for me, I went a somewhat different path. This is for Kubuntu Edgy x86-64 (amd64) and involves some serious package-juggling, but is otherwise quite simple.

First, let's get rid of Ubuntu's OOo with the apt-frontend of your choice (I am an aptitude-user). This will also break the corresponding "language-support-XX"-metapackages, so remove them as well but keep an eye on any other localization-packages that you want to keep.

Next, install ia32-libs. The minimally required packages seem to be "ia32-libs" and
"ia32-libs-openoffice.org", but I also took all the other ia32-packages except "ia32-java-gcj-compat" and "ia32-libs-gtk". This will also net you a 32 Bit Sun Java JRE, which may be useful for OOo (I didn't check it out).

Next, pick up the actual vanilla-debs, for example the German OOo from here:
http://de.openoffice.org/downloads/quick.html?version=2.1.0

Untar the file to a convenient location, and install the debs via "dpkg --force-architecture -i openoffice*deb".

That's it for now, OOo should integrate in K-Menu and work fine from here. No fiddling with any libfreetypes or LD_Preloads necessary. The vanilla-OOo starts up much faster than Ubuntu's version, and fonts look nice, but the UI looks very much Win98-like.

The final glue for a nice KDE-integration is, funny enough, "ia32-libs-gtk", like it has been for Breezy and Dapper (both shipped the 32 Bit version of OOo with amd64). After installation of "ia32-libs-gtk", OOo will respect the settings of KDE's "GTK styles and fonts". In OOo, check Extras -> Options -> View, check "use system fonts for user interface" (hope that's it, I translated back from German...), and set the font-anti-aliasing-option to your liking.

If you ever wondered why OOo in Ubuntu starts up more slowly than for example OOo in Arch Linux, it's the gtk/kde-theming. After installation of "ia32-libs-gtk", it took a bit longer to launch OOo than before, but the desktop-inegration is much better.