I have LO 6.4.6.2 on both Mint 19.3 and Ubuntu 18.04
On both installations, the module “Tools → Options → LibreOffice → Online Update” is missing. Is there an easy way to restore it?
You can’t “restore” it, since it’s not applicable to distro repository distributed versions. Such versions are not installed/updated by LibreOffice itself: they are packages created and maintained by the packet maintainers, and updated automatically by the distro machinery.
Is it typical for the maintainers to take so long? In normal circumstances, I would be willing to wait, since 6.4.6.2 works quite well.
If you want to use a later version of LibreOffice on Ubuntu I recommend you explore running LO via AppImage and Flatpak.
AppImage version runs from a file. It is more convenient to use if you make a launcher. It is possible to make a launcher that will be found when you hit Super > type [launcher name]. Get your own launcher image file too. Cannot mistake it for other LO versions installed. This is something of a palaver. Needs mucking around to build launcher file, copy image file to right place, and so on.
AppImage file will run if you click it though. Probably have to change file permissions. Can do this via Nautilus GUI. Not very convenient to track down file for click launch each time but it will do the job.
I have a folder in /home/[username]/ called appimage where I keep all AppImage files.
AppImage versions do not update either. You need to download another AppImage file to get current version. The process is made easier by the AppImage filename not changing from one version to the next. Just download and plonk it in the directory where your launcher looks for it. No need to edit launcher file details to suit changed filename.
LO AppImage files available here:
https://www.libreoffice.org/download/appimage/
Flatpak is a distro agnostic software distribution platform. To use it you have to install Flatpak first. After that Flatpak packages can be installed by Flatpak from terminal or from Ubuntu Software GUI. It is better to install from terminal, you’ll get feedback on install process. Commands for installing Flatpak packages from terminal can be found at Flathub—An app store and build service for Linux
Quick setup guide here: Flatpakâthe future of application distribution
A useful third party guide: How to Install Flatpak and Use Flatpak Ubuntu (Step-by-Step Guide) - OMG! Ubuntu!
One of the quirks of Flatpak is automatic background updates. Well, it is supposed to be. In my 18.04 I update via command line. I’ve been informed some 18.04 systems give GUI warning to update via popup window. In 20.04 user will be unaware update has proceeded, it’s fully auto.
My system has already updated LibreOffice Flatpak to v7.0.0.3. I found a bug with its function of Find Bar in Writer. Happily LibreOffice AppImage v6.4.5.2 was still onboard and doesn’t have the bug.
LO AppImage, LO Flatpak, and installed LO can all be used simultaneously in Ubuntu.
LO Flatpak can be searched just like software installed via apt using Super > [app name]. This creates confusion with icons from LO installed from Ubuntu repos. I uninstalled the repo version.
For the sake of completeness, another channel is LibreOffice Snap.
I have snap on Ubuntu and Flatpak on Mint. Would I want to remove the existing one and install it using the relevant package manager?
Flatpack and Snap are entirely separate platforms and can happily co-exist on the same system. These containerised platforms can run the same program simultaneously if you desire. For example, when I noticed the bug with LO Flatpak 7.0.0.3 I fired up LO AppImage 6.x to see if the problem manifested there too.
Can run LO Flatpak, LO Snap, LO AppImage, LO from repo all at the same time. I don’t go that far, it would get too confusing. All icons look the same. Can change icon and name by fiddling around with launcher file etcetera if you want. Well, I have done that for LO Snap and LO AppImage.
The only one I have removed is the LO that shipped with the system via the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS install iso, which is the same as the one available from the Ubuntu 18.04 repo. After I started using AppImage version there was no sense in keeping the older repo version, especially after I added LO Flatpak as well.
Recommend you download LO AppImage ‘still’ to have in case a bug in the always latest LO Flatpak causes a hinderence.
Fresh equals newest stable. The latest stable version with the latest features.
Still equals older stable. Doesn’t have the latest features but has been well tested.
Here is the sequence of commands I used to uninstall repo LO version from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:
sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*
sudo apt clean
sudo apt-get autoremove
Method to install Flatpak to Ubuntu can be found in the links posted in my answer.
An article I recently read told the story of the Mint brains trust objecting to the way Snap updates all Snap packages installed to a system silently in the background. Get used to it. That is what Flatpak does too. Although Snap does not ship with latest versions of Mint you can add it later if you wish.
In my limited experience with both Flatpak and Snap I have found that the containerisation of Flatpak is usually less restrictive than for Snap. For example, the p7zip-desktop Snap can only work on files located in /home/[user]/ directory, nowhere else. Okular Snap has a weird file-picker. Okular Flatpak file-picker works like software installed from repo.
If you hit an obstacle with file permissions in Flatpak they can be tweaked with a Flatpak app called Flatseal.
I underscore my recommendation to install Snap and Flatpak packages via terminal.