KubuntuKofficeByDefault

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Summary

Move towards replacing OpenOffice.org with KOffice 1.6

Rationale

We want to move towards using KOffice by default because:

  • KOffice uses the already loaded kdelibs so will use less resources than OpenOffice.org and startup

    • is much faster.
  • Better integration with other default Kubuntu applications such as Krita,Kopete,Kontact & Kmail

  • Uses less space on the CDRom leaving room for future apps without removing language packs as Kubuntu grows
  • Support KDE applications in our KDE Based Distro

However it is not yet ready because there are major bugs in KOffice, despite major improvements in KOffice 1.6, specifically printing in KWord and use of KChart were current problems. With the changes from Qt 4 being used in KOffice 2 we will aim to use KOffice 2 when it is ready.

However Kexi is a much more stable application than the other KOffice applications, it includes good support for the MS Office format and there is no OpenDocument format so there is no issue of not fully supporting the standard format. It also connects to more databases than OpenOffice Base and does not rely on Java for some functionality.

Use cases

Antony wants to write a letter, he open KWord which runs fine on his machine with only 128MB of memory.

Stuart received a .mdb file, he uses Kexi to open it and convert to a native database using Kexi's builtin Import Wizard.

Scope

Use of (parts of) KOffice in Kubuntu desktop seed.

Design

Wait for KOffice 2 before the full transition.

Replace OpenOffice Base with Kexi in the Kubuntu Desktop seed.

Implementation

When we make unsupported KDE 4 remastered CDs (specified in KubuntuFeistyKde4Plan) make them with KOffice 2. If the feedback is good make that the default in the official Kubuntu releases. This will be feisty+1 or feisty+2.

Data preservation and migration

  • Most file formats supported by OpenOffice.org are also supported by KOffice 1.6

  • Kexi has well proven support for MS Office Formats ( .mdb ) and can be imported and exported seemlessly


CategorySpec

KubuntuKofficeByDefault (last edited 2008-08-06 16:16:22 by localhost)