davedickson | # 1 | 2009-10-09, 13:12 | Report

Firstly sorry if this post is in the wrong place, but I am brand new to this.

I have seen a snapshot of Open Office running on the N900 and was wondering how this was done? I will be getting my N900 in October and would like to figure out how to get this working before then. Any help or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreiated.

Thanks.

debernardis | # 2 | 2009-10-09, 13:23 | Report

You can already understand the process by reading some of the threads concerning "easy debian".
Then Qole will release a version optimized for Maemo 5, even if we already know (as he reported) that the available version already works.

solideogloria | # 3 | 2009-10-09, 13:38 | Report

Will this version be withing easy debian or will it run "native" on the device?

davedickson | # 4 | 2009-11-16, 01:47 | Report

Is the easy debian install the best way to go if all i want is open office or similar??

Firstly, I am not entirely sure of the details about where/how it installs, is this installation completely on the mircoSD card, or will it use up space on the device as well??

Is it better for me to wait till there is an version of open office actually for Maemo/N900 which I can install from Extras or equivalent third party, or is this easy debian the only way I can it on the device?

qole | # 5 | 2009-11-16, 01:57 | Report

It seems to me that it is very very unlikely that there will ever be a native version of OpenOffice for Maemo. There has been Nokia-sponsored work to get KOffice ported to Maemo, and so far they've (claimed that they've) only managed to get a viewer working, and they haven't even put that into the repositories. So I don't see the much more complicated OpenOffice becoming available.

I honestly believe that a version of OpenOffice with a mobile-friendly UI is one of the best mobile apps anyone could make, but it seems to be a tremendous undertaking with only a few attempts and no success stories so far.

As for "using up space on the device", this isn't really an issue on the N900 like it was on the earlier NITs. The image file installs to the internal 32GB memory, and only uses up 1.1 GB of that memory.

The biggest problem right now is the usability of OpenOffice on the device. I'm depending on debernardis and others to help me make it usable, once they get their devices.

If you want to try it out, easy-deb-chroot is now in the Fremantle Extras-devel repository.

davedickson | # 6 | 2009-11-16, 02:37 | Report

Firstly thanks for the information on this, as I am fairly new to the linux/maemo way of things all info about this is very useful. It did seem unlikely that there would be a native version (after reading the threads concerning easy debian) just wishful thinking!

You said that the image file installs onto the 32GB internal memory, where exactly does this install to? I have just been discussing increasing the /opt to allow for more space for apps (thread below), will it install here or on the 26GB left of "free space" after all the root folders etc. I am just a bit concerned that if I install this I won't have much room for anything else

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...452#post377452

if the image does install to /opt then I will definatly need to increase the size of it, which will be my next problem

Once I have the device and I'm feeling brave enough for the extras-devel stuff I'll try it out, just a bit worried about breaking it a day after I get it! And as I understand there is no flash image avaliable to get it working again! Hopefully, in a couple of months I'll be able to contribute back and maybe help out with some of the usability/bug issues in this and other packages, once I've got my head round a few things that is.

qole | # 7 | 2009-11-16, 03:26 | Report

The image installs to the 20-something GB partition mounted as /home/user/MyDocs. I seriously can't imagine many cases where someone would fill up this space...

davedickson | # 8 | 2009-11-16, 04:11 | Report

Ok thanks that sorts that out. However I was under the impression (from the comments on that thread) that standard apps downloaded from the repos etc were installed to the /opt (ext3 under /home is it?) which is apparently 2GB. Now if some of those apps are 15Mb (reported by rickyj) thats only 130 odd apps before your out of space, which I admit, is a lot of apps but I plan on keeping the device for a while. It would be nice to have lots of space for testing etc to. That was why we were talking about increasing the /opt to say 5-6GB just to ensure enough space for future use.

My main concern with the easy debian package was that it would take up 1.1GB of that already small 2GB space, but now I know that it doesn't I can rest a little easier when installing it

Are we correct about the apps from the repos installing to this 2GB /opt space or can you point them to install into /Mydocs or microSD say..

If they do install to the /opt would you advise increasing this space from my comments above or do you believe 2GB will be sufficient for long term use of many apps/games.

And finally do you know or already have, an easy safe way to increase the size of this partition, keeping structure etc so basically you can do it, reboot and thats it. A novice step-by-step guide that everyone could follow on the wiki would be very useful if you think that this will become an issue.

Sorry to have gone a bit off topic, but I'm not quite up to speed with the workings of both device/OS yet and have lot of questions, please excuse any stupid ones!

qole | # 9 | 2009-11-16, 07:52 | Report

I'm not going to worry about my /opt partition filling up until it does. It doesn't seem to be an issue so far, and I've got a lot of apps installed, and I just don't see it being an issue in the future. Games with big data files will install the data files to MyDocs anyway, so that's no worry either...

davedickson | # 10 | 2009-11-16, 20:07 | Report

Qole, thanks for your help on this, you've put my mind at rest on the topic. Your right we can cross that bridge if or when it happens.

Cheers,
Dave