Bug 98556 - If all modules are not installed, LibreOffice should refuse to launch
Summary: If all modules are not installed, LibreOffice should refuse to launch
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
4.4.7.2 release
Hardware: x86-64 (AMD64) Linux (All)
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Error-Messages Desktop-Integration
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Reported: 2016-03-09 15:29 UTC by Matt
Modified: 2024-11-11 17:02 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description Matt 2016-03-09 15:29:23 UTC
When I tried to open docx files they were being reported by a libreoffice dialog as corrupt. LibreOffice would offer to repair the file, but it would always fail. The actual problem was that I only had libre office calc installed.

It would be a better error/warning if the file was not determined to be corrupt, but instead libreoffice reported components are missing.
Comment 1 Buovjaga 2016-03-09 19:23:35 UTC
Well, maybe it was still possible in version 4.4 to "remove" applications in the Windows installer, but it is not possible anymore.
You didn't define an operating system - were you using Windows?
Comment 2 Matt 2016-03-09 19:32:12 UTC
(In reply to Buovjaga from comment #1)
> Well, maybe it was still possible in version 4.4 to "remove" applications in
> the Windows installer, but it is not possible anymore.
> You didn't define an operating system - were you using Windows?

No I am using fedora, sorry I didn't define it before.
Comment 3 Buovjaga 2016-03-13 12:55:06 UTC
Is it possible for you to try with 5.1.1? Or does it even allow to install the applications separately?
Comment 4 Matt 2016-03-13 22:24:22 UTC
(In reply to Buovjaga from comment #3)
> Is it possible for you to try with 5.1.1? Or does it even allow to install
> the applications separately?

I do not know how to install it separately if it is possible. Right now fedora lets me install individual components. I only have calc and writer installed. It looks like the rpm from the site will install everything.
Comment 5 Aron Budea 2016-05-08 00:00:29 UTC
Buovjaga, I could reproduce this in Ubuntu 15.10, which also has LO components installed separately (5.0.5.2). I removed these two packages: libreoffice-writer libreoffice-help-en-us.

As far as I can see the practice is the same in 16.04, separate packages per components: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/+package/libreoffice
Comment 6 Buovjaga 2016-05-08 08:34:17 UTC
NEW per comment 5.
Comment 7 QA Administrators 2017-05-22 13:40:31 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 8 QA Administrators 2020-12-18 03:51:17 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 9 QA Administrators 2022-12-19 03:18:32 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 10 Harry kevin 2024-07-11 09:43:10 UTC Comment hidden (spam)
Comment 11 Oliyana beth 2024-07-11 11:46:37 UTC Comment hidden (spam)
Comment 12 Buovjaga 2024-07-11 14:21:22 UTC
Thinking about this again and after discussing in the developer chat, the applications are not supposed to be used separately and there is no guarantee that they will work that way. So the Linux distros wanting to separate them in this unusual way should provide some mechanism to handle these sorts of errors.
Comment 13 Matt 2024-07-13 21:11:49 UTC
This just shows how bad the libre office suite is. Let the OS try to delegate, and fail. LO offers a service that will delegate office related files to the respective program. So Fedora as an OS uses the LO service. The LO service should say "cannot open the file with the available programs." Instead it says "file is corrupt".

Don't tell the OS your service handles such files. What is the point of a single service that doesn't know what files it can handle?

You're incorrectly saying that someones data is corrupt. Take some responsibility for your actions. How about you say, "We cannot open it, do you have the correct components installed."


I don't use your software, and this just confirms my reasoning.
Comment 14 Buovjaga 2024-07-14 07:33:10 UTC
It would be better, if LibreOffice just refused to launch in a situation where the installation is incomplete. Surely there are many more cases of "undefined behaviour" in this kind of a broken setup.
Comment 15 Matt 2024-07-14 21:22:22 UTC
That would be a much more reasonable approach. It fails, The response is "You have an incomplete office installation." I think that sends a user down the path of, what is wrong with my office software.
Comment 16 Buovjaga 2024-07-15 07:45:32 UTC
Ok, let's reopen this with a different summary.
Comment 17 Rene Engelhard 2024-07-15 15:25:02 UTC
With my distro packager hat on:

(In reply to Matt from comment #15)
> That would be a much more reasonable approach. It fails, The response is
> "You have an incomplete office installation." I think that sends a user down
> the path of, what is wrong with my office software.

Maybe with a warning. A failure is out of the question. I would consider simply patching that out...

If you want writer stuff (and docx obviously is a text document so wants writer) then install writer? What is the problem?

Or do you want to have all kinds of stuff you don't need (including Java and all kinds of Java libraries or scientific stuff) installed
 a) polluting your filesystem
 b) making the .deb/.rpm/.. bigger, also for every upload
Comment 18 Mike Kaganski 2024-07-15 15:33:16 UTC
LibreOffice project provides packages and installation instructions that install all components: see e.g. its Linux instructions at [1], where it tells to select *all* in GUI installation, and to use *.deb / *.rpm in the command line.

Linux distros choose to make some modules separate; and provide maybe incomplete instructions to their users about how to use that modularized product. LibreOffice project doesn't need that modularization; but since some of its users need that, it gladly accepts improvements from the interested parties, for their special corner usecases.

If maintainers do not test their unusual install set configurations, and don't provide patches that would be useful in their setups, there's nothing LibreOffice project can do.

This is NOTOURBUG.

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Install/Linux
Comment 19 Rene Engelhard 2024-07-15 15:54:03 UTC
> How about you say, "We cannot open it, do you have the correct components installed."

That indeed should be done, though.
Comment 20 Rene Engelhard 2024-07-15 15:57:00 UTC
LibreOffice project provides packages and installation instructions that install all components: see e.g. its Linux instructions at [1], [...] to use *.deb / *.rpm in the command line.

That assumes people read that in the wiki.
And if they don't and get -writer etc. you already get the modularization even in TDF .rpm/.deb (they would need to handle dependencies, maybe). 
Never underestimate creativity of users...
Comment 21 Rene Engelhard 2024-07-15 16:05:04 UTC
> If maintainers do not test their unusual install set configurations, [...]

That is going to far. It is 100% obvious that you might need writer for a docx document. In this case it's 100% a user error (just install writer and be done) imho.

For other cases, it's not that easy. Base and Java comes to my mind. Or optional stuff which you don't need in "normal" operation. (And thus it's ok if it failed, because you simply can install the needed module)