How to install OpenOffice on Debian 10

Apache OpenOffice is an open-source and freely available office software package that is generally known as OpenOffice. As an alternative to Microsoft Office, users can use OpenOffice. Although OpenOffice uses a different file format than Microsoft Office, it can still open MS Office files. Installing the OpenOffice suite gives you access to a variety of programs, including a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Calc is a spreadsheet that can be used to analyze and visualize numerical data, Impress can be used to create appealing presentations, Database is the foundation for database development, Math can be used to solve mathematical equations, and Design can be used to draw drawings.

In this article, we will learn about Apache OpenOffice and its installation on Debian 10.

Prerequisites

You need to run the sudo command or administrative privileges to download and execute the installation files.

Installation of OpenOffice on Debian 10 system

You can download the most recent version of OpenOffice from its official website. Before starting the OpenOffice installation, install all required dependencies or packages on your Debian system. So, follow the below-mentioned steps to install the OpenOffice suite on Debian 10:

Step1: Install dependencies

Install java on the Debian system by using the following command:

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install default-jdk

Now, use the below-mentioned command to view the installed Java version:

$ java -version

Step 2: Remove LibreOffice

Remove LibreOffice from your system. As Apache OpenOffice will get an error for installation in the presence of LibreOffice. Execute the below-mentioned command to uninstall LibreOffice from Debian 10 system:

$ sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*

After executing the above command, you will see all LibreOffice conflicting packages are removed from your system.

Step 3: Download Latest OpenOffice

In this step, you will visit the official OpenOffice webpage using the following URL:

https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Now, download the latest .deb OpenOffice packages from this URL. A dialogue will prompt on the screen. Choose the ‘Save a File’ option and click on the OK to save the OpenOffice package. The download process will take much time to complete. So, be patient.

If you want to download the OpenOffice suite using the terminal command then, you can use the alternate method to download the Apache OpenOffice software through the following wget command:

$ sudo apt-get install -y wget

$ wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/openofficeorg.mirror/files/4.1.10/binaries/en-US/Apache_OpenOffice_4.1.10_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz

In the above command, the 4.1.10 OpenOffice version is the latest package. You can change it with your own recent version using the above-mentioned OpenOffice download URL.

Step 4: Extract and install OpenOffice suite

After completion of the download, use the cd command to move into the Downloads directory and extract the downloaded .deb OpenOffice package using the following command:

$ cd Downloads

$ tar xvf Apache_OpenOffice_4.1.10_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz

After extraction, the ‘en-US/DEBS’ folder is created. Navigate into the directory using the cd command and start the installation using the following command:

$ cd en-US/DEBS

$ sudo dpkg -i  *.deb

Now, run the below-given command to start the desktop integration package installation:

$ cd desktop-integration/

$ sudo dpkg -i *deb

Step 5: Launch OpenOffice on Debian 10

Once installation is complete, search OpenOffice in the search box in your system. Click on the required OpenOffice icon.

The following OpenOffice interface will appear on the desktop:

Finally, the welcome OpenOffice window will display on your system.

Conclusion

In this post, we installed OpenOffice 4.1.10 on a Debian 10 machine. On your Debian system, you may now utilize the Apache OpenOffice suite. All other Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu and LinuxMint, have the same OpenOffice installation procedure. I hope you found this article's implementation stages and suggestions helpful.