I have downloaded the Offline Help files for LibreOffice 6.0.4.2 and extracted them but I can’t find a way to install them. I have searched Linux Mint forums but there doesn’t seem to be anything related to this latest version of LibreOffice. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Read these guidelines and ask a good question. In particular, what exactly and where from did you download?
Perhaps I should have stated that I am new to this forum and have no idea what you are talking about so forgive me if I have not observed the protocols. However, I downloaded the offline help files from LibreOffice.org and when I checked my Downloads folder I noted they came as a package which I apparently do not have permission to open. Incidentally, what is wrong with my question? It seems perfectly logical to me!
Your question is logical, but bad because you don’t give enough details. You should have included all the details in the comment into the original posting. And still, there are missing pieces, notably:
- What’s the file that you refer to as a package?
- You don’t have permissions, as you say, but how did you install LibreOffice?
- Generally, why don’t you install from your distro repos?
The help files are related to the version of LO installed. If you installed LO manually (NOT using the official repository of your distribution, full updated) then in the same way you should install the exact corresponding help.
I don’t have Mint available to me, so no guarantees … but I think this might help.
Open a terminal, and from the command line enter:
apt search libreoffice-help-en-*
That ought to produce a listing of LibO’s English language help packages. Here’s what it produces on my Ubuntu system:
$ apt search libreoffice-help-en-*
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
libreoffice-help-en-gb/bionic,bionic,now 1:6.0.3-0ubuntu1 all [installed]
office productivity suite -- English_british help
libreoffice-help-en-us/bionic,bionic,now 1:6.0.3-0ubuntu1 all [installed]
office productivity suite -- English_american help
You can then install the package for your i18n setting, for example (US English):
sudo apt install libreoffice-help-en-us
It might be that Mint still uses apt-get rather than simple apt which is what Ubuntu now uses. So if it chokes on the command above, try it with sudo apt-get install... instead.
Hope that works!
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Sorry for late response … network was down. I tried your suggestion but still no luck. When I click on Help in LibreOffice I still get response as follows: The LibreOffice built-in help is not installed on your computer.
Hmmm - in that case, it’s important to know what @gabix asked in a comment to the question: how did you install LibO on your system? With Mint, you really should be installing via PPA. If you’re not sure how do that, please ask a new question, or have a look at this answer on AskUbuntu (which is kept up-to-date), and that should also work on Mint.
By heck, my 84 year old brain finds this all too much to grasp. And here I was thinking the move from Windows 10 to Linux Mint 18.3 was a brilliant idea. I found LibreOffice a lot easier to install on Windows 10 than in Linux so I think I’ll call it a day. A shame really because in many ways I prefer the Linux Mint environment to Windows 10. Why does software installation have to be so complex in Linux … I just don’t get it!
@Office-boss - please don’t give up! Software installation and maintenance is much simpler in Linus Mint (or Ubuntu, on which it is based) than Win10 – it’s just different. In fact, if you’re new to Linux Mint, it might be worth trying Ubuntu (18.04), as in my experience, this is all working “out of the box” with the standard installation.
Thanks David - I might give that a try although I confess I have become rather fond of Linux Mint 18.3 - the Cinnamon version.
David, you will be pleased to know my perseverance has finally paid off. In the end I used the PPA method as you suggested - it was quite a task to start with and to me a new learning curve but it has paid off. I decided to go the whole hog uninstalling LO and reinstalling it, then followed up with the Offline Help all in one bash. Thanks for your encouragement and suggestions, they’re much appreciated! I still maintain it is easier in Windows 10 though!!
@Office-boss - Hurrah! I quite like Mint, too, and used it extensively a few years ago. If you need help with it, then Unix.Stackexchange.com is the best place. Even though AskUbuntu.com has a lot of help, “Linux Mint” questions are “off-topic” there (and that is policed quite fiercely). Glad you can enjoy Mint/Cinnamon with LibO now well set-up. When upgrades come along, they will be easily managed by Mint Updater.
@dajare Here’s to another successful installation, only this time it’s on a MacBook and believe it or not, it was even easier than it was in Windows 10. Not only that, but it also came with the offline help files already built in so I still tend to be puzzled as to why it is so much more complex when installing on a Linux Mint system.