TDF announces LibreOffice 5.4.7, last minor release in 5.4.x series

The Document Foundation (TDF) has announced the release of LibreOffice 5.4.7, final minor release in LibreOffice 5.4.x family. This series is currently targeting main stream users and enterprise environments where stability and consistency is main concern. Towards this, LibreOffice 5.4.7 includes fixes for over 60 minor and major issues.

In addition to the 32 bit releases, LibreOffice 5.4.7 also introduces 64 bit release for Windows. This will require Windows Vista or later. While, the 32 bit release can run even on Windows XP. LibreOffice 5.4.7 will be the final release that support Windows XP. LibreOffice 5.4.x enables users to install both LibreOffice 5.3 and 5.4 simultaneously, while in Windows, 5.4 will replace the 5.3 installation if it already exists.

The main issues fixed in LibreOffice 5.4.3 can be summarized as:

• coverity#982189 backward heading search doesn't always work [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#6656 1 isn't a good flag for all elements filled [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#6827 bad-cast [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#6999 check available data len [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#7043 already registered [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#7063 ensure lifecycle [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#7109 infinite regress [Caolán McNamara]
• ofz#7121 NamedDBs::insert takes ownership of its argument [Eike Rathke]
• ofz#7165 set a recursion limit for svm in svm [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#71339 EDITING sigma icon (sum function) operating on selected range [Eike Rathke]
• tdf#90627 Saving presentation results in invalid PPTX file [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#91106 1st Hierarchical level in Styles and Formatting is not alphabetically sorted [Michael Stahl]
• tdf#104792 FILESAVE: PPTX: Corrupted File after RT (The element has incomplete child element) [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#106746 copy/pasting revisions copy deleted words [Aron Budea]
• tdf#107094 Backward Search of Headings with Navigation Bar Does not Work Always [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#112997 Viewing: only a single of multiple animated gif is rendered [Noel Grandin]
• tdf#115407 Impress loses transition sounds and sound instructions [Julien Nabet]
• tdf#115539 "Start Slideshow" does not hide notebookbar when in Outline and SlideSorter mode [Xisco Fauli]
• tdf#115795 "Get Online Help" under zh-tw locale would be redirected to zh-cn forum [Franklin Weng]
• tdf#115853 Custom properties deleted [Julien Nabet]
• tdf#116101 Bullets in bulleted list with proportion >100% appear off [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#116163 PPTX: Chart labels are too long [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#116215 Sum button: Calc adds wrong sum formulas if you select more than one row or column [Eike Rathke]
• tdf#116238 Notebookbar stays visible during slide show when started from Slides pane [Xisco Fauli]
• tdf#116324 Nested IF(IF( without Else path yields #VALUE! [Eike Rathke]
• tdf#116474 Undo/redo: The redo of adding caption to an image isn't working: no image [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#116536 FILEOPEN: Bullets are higher than the text [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#116544 EDITING: Inserting Photo Album that includes .MOV causes Crash [Caolán McNamara]
• bnc#778133 sw: handle cell background for BACKGROUND_PARA_OVER_DRAWINGS [Miklos Vajna]
• ofz#7648 bad-cast [Caolán McNamara]
• redmine#2585 update credits [Christian Lohmaier]
• rhbz#1283420 message box fonts corrupted in libreoffice [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#84205 FILESAVE: Theme Colors inverted in drawings after PPTX roundtrip (black part turned to white) [Szymon Kłos]
• tdf#100925 When overwriting a cell, new content is displayed on top of the old content until finishing the edit [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#115719 DOCX import: lack of Word 2013-style increased spacing for paragraph with anchored objects [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116410 FILEOPEN DOCX: First paragraph has wrong top margin (space before) [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116830 DOCX import: table cell background is behind background shapes [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116925 Automatic text color in textbox does not consider fill style of shape [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116976 DOCX import: bitmap does not consume its relative size [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116985 DOCX import, shape with textbox: incorrect text area size when shape size is relative [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#116999 Libreoffice command line interface is not opening cgm files [Caolán McNamara]
• tdf#117028 DOCX import: textbox of shape lacks its transparent background [Miklos Vajna]
• tdf#117039 Print Preview crashes on signed document [Katarina Behrens]
• tdf#117268 FILEOPEN: RTF: parser dont draw tables correctly [Mike Kaganski]

For more details and download links, see LibreOffice 5.4.7 release announcement published in The Document Foundation blog.

LibreOffice 5.4.6 released with more than 60 bug fixes

The Document Foundation has announced the immediate availability of LibreOffice 5.4.6, sixth minor release in LibreOffice 5.4.x series. This release made more robust and stable with over 60 bug fixes and is an ideal choice for main stream users and enterprises.

What is new in LibreOffice 5.4.6?

LibreOffice 5.4.6 is a maintenance release in LibreOffice 5.4.x series. The purpose of this release is to make the productivity suite more robust and reliable to deploy on enterprise ecosystems. To serve this purpose, the team has fixed almost 60 bugs in this release.

If you are looking for LibreOffice suite with latest features, the you should probably go for LibreOffice 6.0 release.

Following are some of the notable bug fixes shipped in LibreOffice 5.4.6 release.

• Fixed the issue of losing parent child relation ship while saving and opening documents.
• Resolved some unexpected crash while opening LibreOffice.
• Fixed shrinking of images when image size is greater than slide size in impress.
• Fixed libvisio issue that generates svg:fill-rule attribute which is round-tripped to a non-well-formed XML document by LO
• Fixed issue of missing content in presentation mode.
• MS visual Foxpro created *.DBF files can be opened now.
• Fixed the issue of rendering a white rectangle around content in impress presentations.
• LibreOffice 5.4.6 is configured to install in parallel with LibreOffice 5.3 in GNU/Linux and macOS. However, both can't be run simultaneously.

For a detailed list of changes, refer LibreOffice 5.4.6 RC1 and RC2 release notes.

Where can I get LibreOffice 5.4.6?

LibreOffice 5.4.6 can be downloaded from project's download page. There are multiple installation images for RPM based systems, DEB based systems, Windows and macOS.

If you are planning to use LibreOffice in a business environment, it is highly recommended to get support from certified LibreOffice partners. It will also give you long term supported versions of LibreOffice.

The Document Foundation announced LibreOffice 6.0; Here is what is new

The Document Foundation has announced the release of LibreOffice 6.0, latest major release of worlds leading open source productivity suite. This release brings various improvements to provide better privileges, security and reliability to the users. It also ensures better interoperability with MicroSoft office documents.

It has been 7 years since the first release of LibreOffice. The Document Foundation was established with the goal of providing a powerful, stable, cross platform supported and free office productivity suite. Initially, LibreOffice project was started as a fork of OpenOffice. Within a short span, LibreOffice has evolved a lot and has proven itself as professional productivity suite. With the release of LibreOffice 6.0, it continues its journey as leading open source productivity suite.

LibreOffice Development over the years

Following are some of the notable features of LibreOffice 6.0 productivity suite:

GENERAL

• An EPUB export filter has been added, to save documents as e-books.
• It's now possible to import QuarkXPress v3 and v4 files, while support forOOXML has been improved as well, especially for SmartArt, cross references and ActiveX controls.
• The Special Characters dialog has been improved, with a new search facility along with recent and favourite characters. Also, a new drop-down icon in the toolbar lets you quickly add special characters.
• In addition, the user interface customisation dialog has been redesigned to be more intuitive and user friendly.
• A new icon set for the toolbars - called Elementary - has been added.
• If you want to save an image that's embedded into a document, and the image has been modified, you can now either save the original version or the modified version.
• On all desktop platforms, you can now use OpenPGP keys to sign and encryptODF documents.
• TSCP-based classification now allows multiple policies, and in Writer, you can mark and sign individual paragraphs.
• A selection from the popular open source Noto font family is now included by default, due to its large Unicode coverage, while fonts for Hebrew and Arabic have been added as well.
• Finally, the Help system has been improved to be more user-friendly and work better with mobile devices.

WRITER

• New table styles have been added to the word processor, to make your documents and data look even better.
• A drop-down list has been added to the find toolbar, which helps to make navigation simpler.When you're performing a mail merge, it's now possible to use data from tables inside Writer itself.
• A new Form menu has been added, making it easier to add interactive forms to your documents.
• It's now possible to have split sections inside tables.Custom dictionaries are more flexible, using innovative human language technology, helping professional journalists, editors and writers.When you've inserted an image into a document, you can now rotate it to any angle, rather than in steps of just 90 degrees. 

CALC

• In the spreadsheet, new commands have been added to select unprotected cells on protected or unprotected sheets.
• If a sheet is protected, a lock symbol appears at the beginning of the sheet's tab.Using the File > Export dialog, you can now export a cell range selection - or a selected group of shapes - in PNG or JPG format.
• The Links dialog has been simplified, while three new ODF 1.2 compliant spreadsheet functions have been implemented, for finding and replacing textusing byte positions.

IMPRESS

• 10 great new templates have been added, for home and business use, to make your presentations really stand out.
• In addition, the default aspect ratio is now 16:9, so your new presentations work with widescreen displays straight away. 

ONLINE

• In LibreOffice Online, the cloud-based version of the suite, many improvements have been made to the interface.
• User avatars are now supported, which are displayed in comments. 
• In addition, links in comments are now detected automatically. 
• Dialogs have been added and updated, such as Insert Special Characters, and Find And Replace.
• Spell checking is now available across Writer, Calc and Impress, while the status bar now shows the current language of text being edited.
• Writer now has an interactive horizontal ruler, like in the desktop version of the suite.
• In Calc, an active cell reference box has been added, and basic editing of charts has been implemented

 For more information, see LibreOffice 6.0 release announcement published in Document Foundation website.

Black Lab Enterprise Linux 11.0.3 released with Google Chrome 60 and LibreOffice 5.4

The PC/OpenSystem LLC. has launched Black Lab Enterprise Linux 11.0.3, a maintenance cum update release in distribution's 11.x series. This release brings various package updates and enhancements to make it suitable to serve it's purpose better.

Black Lab Enterprise Linux 11.0.3 mainly targets small to medium scale business environments, research institutes and other similar areas like multimedia productions and educational institutes.

Considering the demand from customers, Black Lab Linux is made available in 4 variations. GNOME is the default session in 3 variants namely, Black Lab Linux Enterprise, Black Lab Studio and Black Lab for education, while LXDE is used in embedded system variant. In addition to default GNOME session, users can install their choice of desktop environments like KDE Plasma 5, XFCE, LXDE and Mate.

Following are updated packages shipped in Black Lab Enterprise 11.0.3 release.

• Kernel 4.10.0-37
• Google Chrome 60
• Thunderbird 52.3
• LibreOffice 5.4
• Webmin 1.8
• ksplice for rebootless kernel updates
• Samba 4
• OpenLDAP
• Container support
• Web container support
• Support for the XFS, JFS and BTRFS file systems for installation targets

For more information, see original release announcement published in Black Lab Linux blog.

LibreOffice 5.4 released; Here is what is new

The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 5.4, latest stable release of leading open source office suite developed by dedicated volunteer community and backed by The Document Foundation. LibreOffice 5.4 is going to be the last and final release in LibreOffice 5.x series. This release brings various changes in the productivity suite in general and also in individual applications.

LibreOffice 5.4 is more compatible with the documents generated by other proprietary office suites like MicroSoft office. The xml schema of ODF and OOXML documents has been simplified to make it more robust and compatible with various office suites. It's size is significantly less comparing the documents generated by proprietary office suites.

Following are some key highlights of LibreOffice 5.4 release in common and in individual modules;

• A new standard colour palette has been included, based on the RYB colour model.
• File format compatibility has been improved, with better support for EMF vector images. This helps when you’re importing detailed diagrams from other office software.
• Imported PDF files are rendered with much better quality, also when inserted into a document, while exported PDF files – from Writer and Impress – support embedded videos (and linked videos if opened with Acrobat Reader).
• LibreOffice 5.4 supports OpenPGP keys for signing ODF documents on Linux. If you already use GPG/PGP for signing emails, it ensures the authenticity of your ODF documents regardless of the mode of transport or storage.

WRITER

• In Writer, you can now import AutoText from Microsoft Word DOTM templates.
• When you’re exporting or pasting numbered and bulleted lists as plain text, their full structure is preserved.
• In the Format menu, you can now create custom watermarks for your documents.
• New context menu items have been added for working with sections, footnotes, endnotes and styles.

CALC

• Calc now includes support for pivot charts, which use data from pivot tables. When the table is updated, the chart is automatically updated as well.
• Comments are now easier to manage, with menu commands to show, hide and delete all comments.
• When applying conditional formatting to cells, you can now easily change the priority of rules with up and down buttons.
• Extra sheet protection options have been added, to optionally allow insertion or deletion of rows and columns.
• Lastly, when you’re exporting in CSV format, your settings are remembered for the next export operation.

IMPRESS

• In Impress, when you’re duplicating an object, you can now specify fractional angles. In addition, your settings are saved for the next duplication operation.

ONLINE

• Finally, LibreOffice Online has been improved as well. Performance is better, while the layout adapts responsively to mobile devices. In addition, a read-only mode has been added.

You may read more about LibreOffice 5.4 in official release announcement.

4MLinux 22.0 STABLE released with LibreOffice 5.4.0.1 and GIMP 2.8.22

The 4MLinux project has declared freeze of 4MLinux 22.0 as a stable release. This release includes many updated packages and bug fixes. It also features a beta release of Skype, popular video conferencing software, FreeCol game and support for LUKS disk encryption.

Courtesy : 4MLinux

The status of the 4MLinux 22.0 series has been changed to STABLE. Create your documents with LibreOffice 5.4.0.1 and GIMP 2.8.22, share them using DropBox 28.4.14, surf the Internet with Firefox 54.0 and Chromium 59.0.3071.86, stay in touch with your friends via Skype 5.3.0.1 and Thunderbird 52.2.1, enjoy your music collection with Audacious 3.8.2, watch your favorite videos with MPlayer SVN-r37904 and VLC 2.2.6, play games powered by Mesa 13.0.4 and Wine 2.10. You can also setup the 4MLinux LAMP Server (Linux 4.9.33, Apache 2.4.25, MariaDB 10.2.6, PHP 5.6.30 and PHP 7.0.15). Perl 5.24.0 and Python 2.7.12 are also available. 

4MLinux 22.0 comes with some amazing new features (Skype BETA, FreeCol game, support for the LUKS disk encryption, to name but a few examples). However, the biggest changes are related to the 4MLinux Server, which is now a feature-rich, the lightest and the fastest server suite available on the market.

See release announcement and package list as a reference.

Download 4MLinux 22.0