Install OpenOffice 3.2.1 in Ubuntu 10.10

OpenOffice 3.2.1 has been out for about a month now. It has various improvements over the previous version like faster startup time, support for open standards like ODF and better compatibility with Microsoft Office 2010.

Although it has been out for more than a month, it is still not (and probably never be) available in the official repository for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. As OpenOffice.org makes the source available at the time of the release, it is possible to install it using the source right at the time of release in Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat as well. However, installing from source cannot exactly be called user friendly and you will not get updates if you installed from the source. So, even if you had installed it from source earlier, it is recommended that you install it with this method.

Step 1. Download and Install OpenOffice 3.2.1

We should first download and install OpenOffice 3.2.1, which is in Software you'll need option of this tutorial. Extract file to your desktop to finish the installation.

Step 2. Remove The Existing Eersion

You can remove the existing version of OpenOffice if you wish with this command:

sudo apt-get remove openoffice*.*

Step 3. Install New OpenOffice

Copy and paste OOO320_m18_native_packed-1_en-US.9502 onto the desktop then open Terminal and paste this command:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/OOO320_m18_native_packed-1_en-US.9502/DEBS/*.deb

Step 4. Install OpenOffice Menus

Then paste this command:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/OOO320_m18_native_packed-1_en-US.9502/DEBS/desktop-integration/openoffice.org3.2-debian-menus_3.2-9502_all.deb

Once you’ve done that you’ll find OpenOffice 3.2.1 in Office.