Update to 7.0.4 from 6.2.8.2: delete old or just install?

[Steve6954]

Hi. i cannot find any instructions about updating - whether to remove the old/current version first or whether to install(/update/upgrade?) over the top.This question is for any combination of versions not just my example.
Thanks

Thanks for looking. I thought I was asking about the procedure for updating Libre Office regardless of platform - whether to delete the existing version before installing the new - sorry. I am able to install software, it’s just this question! I understand the answer may be dependent on the versions involved.

My OS is ubuntu 18.04. My current version of Libre Office is 6.2.8.2 - that’s what the ‘Check for Updates’ message box says.

[ajlittoz]

I cannot give any instructions because you didn’t mention your OS and current LO version.

Please do not use Add Answer but edit your original question to enhance the details of your question (answers are reserved for solutions to a problem on this Q&A site).

[anon73440385]

My OS is ubuntu 18.04. My current version of Libre Office is 6.2.8.2

And you don’t know where you got your installation from? There are several ways how you got this:

• Using Launchpad PPA
• From TDF (libreoffice.org)
• From Base Ubuntu repositories (standard repositories, not the case here, since then you’d have v. 6.0.7)
• (and I do not talk about snap, flatpack, etc… here)

Without any knowledge what you have from where, there is no correct description of the procedure how to upgrade but guesswork. In general: If you upgrade from same repository (or in case of Ubuntu from an PPA) you don’t need to uninstall your current version. But if you change the repository, it is strongly recommended to uninstall the current installation plus doing a sudo apt autoremove.

At least you need to provide output from `Help -> About LibreOffice`

[Steve6954]

You are correct. I do not know for sure where I got my installation from. I think that I have previously updated, but that didn’t go well - I remember getting a general bit but not the major parts, the apps, so that needed to be worked out. Some of it would have come from apt but it didn’t fully succeed.

Thank you for your guidance.

The answer that I take from the comments is to update if I am doing that from the same installation source / repository (regardless of the versions involved), otherwise to remove the old version and do a fresh installation of the new version.

I have downloaded 7.0.4 because the ‘Help/check for Updates…’ took me to the LO download page.

I’m not sure where to put it, but I’d comment that there seems to be several worthwhile looking pdfs as user guides on everything but installation/updating. The release notes cover the content but not how to update, as far as I can see.

Thank you both.

&------------------------

Thanks for your comments.

I understand what you mean about update processes varying by distro and OS - some time back I worked on a set of those for a major multi-platform product of a large IT company.

Maybe a better way of putting my question would have been to ask if there were breaking changes between LO 6 and LO 7?!

The responses that I have had here are about how to achieve the update in my particular circumstance. I was looking for advice on whether to update or reinstall from the LO point of view. You may respond that there are never breaking changes between versions but, perhaps sadly, I attempt to read the ‘update instructions’ of an important product like this to confirm the absence of such dangers.

Thanks

[ajlittoz]

because update is really distro/OS dependent. Distro maintainers add their own share of customisation and TDF can be held responsible for it.

For best results, hold on the the “standard” distro method if you’re a common user, i.e. apt-get. The version may lag a bit behind bleeding-edge but it is safe and reliable. If you feel brave, you can install beta versions but I don’t recommend it if you require stability in your daily work.

EDIT

You always benefit from bug fixes.

My interest is primarily in Writer. There are effectively a few new features in 7.x. I don’t remember which because I update my template(s) and style collections with these and later work only with my template, avoiding direct formatting as much as I can. Therefore, I don’t manually activate the novelties. But read the Release Notes, they are good at emphasizing the differences.