OpenOffice 2.4

32 bit

deb for Ubuntu
deb for Debian
rpm for openSuse
rpm for PCLinuxOS

64 bit

deb for Ubuntu
deb for Debian
rpm for openSuse

OpenOffice.org is an office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems.

It supports the ISO standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office '97-2003 formats, among many others.

OpenOffice.org is based on StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999.
The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the aim of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free, open and high-quality alternative.

OpenOffice.org is free software, available under the
GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

The project and software are informally referred to as OpenOffice, but this term is a trademark held by another party, requiring the project to adopt OpenOffice.org as its formal name.

According to its mission statement, the OpenOffice.org project aims "To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format."

OpenOffice.org aims to compete with Microsoft Office
and emulate its look and feel where suitable.
It can read and write most of the file formats found in Microsoft Office, and many other applications; an essential feature of the suite for many users.

OpenOffice.org has been found to be able to open files of older versions of Microsoft Office and damaged files that newer
versions of Microsoft Office itself cannot open.
However, it cannot open older Word for Macintosh (MCW) files.

OpenOffice.org is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite.
Many of the components are designed
to mirror those available in Microsoft Office.

The components available include:

Writer:  A word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word and offering a comparable range of functions and tools.
It also includes the ability to export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can also function as a WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages.

Calc:  A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data.
Calc is also capable of writing spreadsheets directly as a PDF file.

Impress:  A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed.
It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint's .ppt format. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.

Base:  A database program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users.
As with Access, Base may be used as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL.
Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0. Native to the OpenOffice.org suite is an adaptation of HSQL. While ooBase can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need for any of them to be installed.

Draw:  A vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to Desktop publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher.

Math:  A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer.
It supports multiple fonts and can export to PDF.

OpenOffice.org Basic is a programming language similar to Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) based on StarOffice Basic.
In addition to the macros, the upcoming Novell edition of OpenOffice.org 2.0 supports running Microsoft VBA macros, a feature expected
to be incorporated into the mainstream version soon.

OpenOffice.org Basic is available in the Writer and Calc applications. It is written in functions called subroutines or macros, with each macro performing a different task, such as counting the words in a paragraph. OpenOffice.org Basic is especially useful in doing repetitive tasks
that have not been integrated in the program.

As the OpenOffice.org database, called "Base", uses documents created under the Writer application for reports and forms, one could say that Base can
also be programmed with OpenOffice.org Basic.

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