Linux LO 7.3 Calc has extreme lag

[robgrune]

LO deb installed from LO website, latest build.
Version: 7.3.3.2 / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: d1d0ea68f081ee2800a922cac8f79445e4603348
CPU threads: 6; OS: Linux 5.15; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: en-GB (en_GB.UTF-8); UI: en-GB
Calc: CL
Ubuntu 22.04
Gnome 42
windowing X11
nvidea card

Data entry in Calc, and operation in general, has long lag time between keyboard strokes and appearance in cell.

Tried but no success…

• disabling java, CL, other settings
• starting in safe mode

Any helpful suggestions?

[robgrune]

SOLVED.
How…
Delete Ubuntu.
Install Pop!_OS.
voila. all problems solved.

[Villeroy]

@robgrune

Any helpful suggestions?

Use the one that comes with your distribution.

[Ratslinger]

@Villeroy

Use the one that comes with your distribution.

From my recollection of a test install of Ubuntu 22.04 about a week ago, that LO is most likely the one from the distribution.
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Edit:
Checked with the image. The LO version included with Ubuntu 2.04 Mate is v7.3.2.2 and of course it is of a different build.

[Villeroy]

Sometimes the compiler is more important than the version.

[Ratslinger]

I still tend to stay away from distro versions. Have had issues & seen many others including where they do not include pieces because “…nobody uses it” (Report Builder). And not just excluding it in the distro but no availability at all.

[robgrune]

fyi, the LO release per the distro created other problems: such as no fonts appearing in the font dropdown box. A distro developer suggested I install a new build from the LO site. With this new build, I can see fonts.

Lag is but one of the problems I am having with LO. If I must wait seconds for each cell input/edit, imho this is a broken system.

And, LO has many other bugs, such as: inability to read drives; no offline help function. I found a means to invoke help, by finding and installing a browser that is not a snap release; ‘slimjet’ works well. But imho LO should work fully and properly out-of-the-box.

I have been using LO for about 10 years. I am reluctant to abandon it. LO was once a very good suite, but now no more. The developers seem to have lost sight of the basics and reasons why people switch to Linux.

Idea: would anybody know where I find/download older deb releases, say 7.1 ? Would older work with Gnome 42 ?

[Ratslinger]

Do not know what is going to work with what else but the Archive link is toward the bottom of the LO download page.
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Here is the link > LO Archive

[dchmelik]

I have little/no lag on strictly Unix[-like] OS (*BSD, Slackware, which Debian/Ubuntu left the category when replacing SysVInit) but not having offline help is extremely concerning… Sometimes I had lag I just forgot I had been using too much system resources for other things…

[mikekaganski]

@dchmelik

not having offline help

What is meant? The offline help is provided with all TDF-supplied releases; AFAIK most (all?) distro maintainers provide their own builds of offline help (anyway, whenever a distro is maintaining their own package, it’s their responsibility to package it all properly - so it’s fun to read things like “The developers seem to have lost sight of the basics and reasons why people switch to Linux” from @robgrune, when the packaging is one of basic things that are distro-specific); and LibreOffice still maintains two variants of building the offline help - one may choose to build the new HTML help, or the older non-HTML one (still used in RedHat); so the resulting variant is again the choice of the package maintainer.

@robgrune

Idea: would anybody know where I find/download older deb releases, say 7.1 ?

https://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/

@robgrune

LO deb installed from LO website, latest build

From the Ubuntu LibreOffice Packaging team PPA:

OTOH, it is way better to use packages from this PPA than using the *.deb files that The Document Foundation provides upstream, which are intentionally build against a very old baseline for maximum compatibility. So, if you want to be on the bleeding edge, do it here, not with upstream *.debs.

Note that the distro package maintainers are the ones who really know how to integrate their packages with the OS best.

[Villeroy]

Install fonts and they appear in every application.
Add user interface languages and they are availlable in every application.
Install spell check dictionaries and they are usable in every application making use of dictionaries.
Ubuntu for example provides the software development kit for LibreOffice, the offline help, the Base component, database drivers, some important extensions as additional options. Just search for packages containing “libreoffice”. I recommend “synaptic” for easy package managment.

I use LibreOffice 6.0 PPA (Ubuntu 18.4) for productive work and the most recent packages from libreoffice.org for places like this one. The 7.x versions are not usable (for me at least) before I disable gtk and configure a separate profile folder. Version 6.0 can do everything I want to do.

[robgrune]

Thanks for reply.
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I did try prior the release from the PPA you note. The release created many problems. Note: the PPA is for untested releases, which are too often full of bugs.
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LO may have its own build for the help file, but it is html, and requires a browser. Firefox and Chromium are installed from snaps, and those snaps cannot read from the LO temp files needed for help. To resolve this, I had to find a browser that installed from a deb file; ‘slimjet’ is a good choice. To see help from the LO menus, the default browser must be slimjet.
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LO does not integrate well with Nautilus. When files from other drives are required, the LO UI does not show the other drives. Most annoying.
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The MAIN ISSUE for me is the extreme lag upon data input. I have not found any means yet to overcome this. afaik, this is an interface problem LO has with GTK.

[mikekaganski]

@robgrune

Note: the PPA is for untested releases, which are too often full of bugs.

Definitely. “Untested” from the Ubuntu point of view. They use the same code as used for respective TDF releases; e.g., the source code from TDF release 7.3.3 and PPA 7.3.3 is the same. The difference is the build itself, which in case of TDF release uses everything internal (i.e., all dependencies are built and bundled with the package, and the build is done against our baseline; while PPA uses everything from system, relying on all dependencies installed from repositories, and the compilation is done against the target system libraries).

@robgrune

but it is html, and requires a browser

Indeed. This in not the same, though, as “no offline help function” claim you made in #6. The world is changing; and today, most of the systems do have browsers. The limitations of snap packages is a different issue, and deserves a bug report (it may well be already filed, but I didn’t look for that, and I don’t recommend to search for that - if you experience a problem, just file a bug). Possibly there’s a way to change that on LibreOffice side. Again, it’s not the same as “The developers seem to have lost sight of the basics and reasons why people switch to Linux” claim.

@robgrune

LO does not integrate well with Nautilus

Please file a bug report. However, you might see some problem that can’t be resolved on TDF builds, if it happens that LibreOffice would have to use some library functions introduced in newer libraries that were absent in the baseline. That’s what distro packages for; and possibly, you could try to use LbreOffice own dialogs to workaround that (see Options|General|Use LibreOffice dialogs).

@robgrune

afaik, this is an interface problem LO has with GTK

The lag is most likely not directly related to GTK. It is likely just the use of full stack of own libraries that work instead of system’s, including CRT (and, I suppose, GTK).

You have issues. They come from your distro packager. And then you try workarounds, like using baseline packages - indeed, as they are built against baseline libraries, they have to be unable to be as performant as native ones. But the problem that I see in your description is many offensive pieces that you insert right and left. Just use a neutral and/or friendly attitude - and everyone would benefit from the discussion, instead of trying to defend.

[robgrune]

@mike.
Thanks for reply. Educational.
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Please note: the release I have installed is indeed the TDF release: the deb downloaded from the LO website. The link is: Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft
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Are you saying I should not be using the TDF release? I should be using the PPA release?

[mikekaganski]

@robgrune

Are you saying I should not be using the TDF release? I should be using the PPA release?

I do not say you “should not be using the TDF release” in principle. I only say that you need to understand that using the TDF release, you use something built against a baseline, with many inherent limitations. They are something natural, based on the very nature of the release.

Also I say that before trying the TDF build, you would better try the PPA to see if that resolved your original issue - if it does, that would be the preferred solution.

But I also see that you already tried that:

@robgrune

I did try prior the release from the PPA you note. The release created many problems.

So of course the TDF release would be an option in that case. Just know its limitation, and treat that as only a workaround with expected shortcomings; and be sure to inform the distro packagers that there are distro-specific problems, in their bug tracker, to enable them to act on that, and eventually allow you to get back to the distro release.

[robgrune]

@Mike:
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Thanks for replies.
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I purged LO and re-installed 7.3 from the Ubuntu repository. Unfortunately, no improvements. All the same issues remain.
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To invoke Help, LO requires a browser not from the repository. This means a deb pkg. I found ‘slimjet’, and this works to show the LO Help offline. Chromium and Firefox do not.
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To see fonts in the dropdown boxes, I must change windowing from wayland to X11.
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No interface with Nautilus, so cannot see any folder other than /home. Folders on other drives do not appear.
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The LAG remains, and is by far the biggest frustration. Lag during input is very difficult to manage. But the lag for scrolling through docs or sheets is terrible, ie cannot scroll at all, bringing work to a standstill.
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I encountered lag some years ago for LO 6. The solution then was to delete libreoffice-gtk3, and replace it with libreoffice-gtk2. However, for Ubuntu 22.04, the only option is -gtk3.
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Submitting bug reports is appreciated,and a most valuable service to users. I shall file one or two. Unfortunately, over the years, only 1 submitted bug was ever resolved, and the time required was over 6 months. If I must again wait 6 months for a resolution to the lag issue, I think my time will be less wasted by seeking alternatives to the o/s and office suite.
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Thanks again for your comments, and best wishes to you.

[robgrune]

Since May 15, I capitulated. Deleted Ubuntu and the LO version found in the Ubuntu repositories. Installed Pop!_OS and the default LO: complete wipe a fresh install. Voila, all problems solved. After this change, I upgraded my mobo, cpu, dram. Voila, better performance all round. After this, I switched to using the FreeOffice suite, Voila, all incompatibilities with MS files are resolved.