Manjaro Moving Ahead With Snap Support, Bundling Proprietary FreeOffice

[R41N3R]

This makes Manjaro again less attractive to me. They seem to work hard to become the new Canonical.

[elatllat]

So what's the new best easy to use Arch based distribution?

Install Arch.

Arch.

Ya bunch of jokers, I sure can-use/have-used Arch but I can't recommend it as "easy to use" for non-technical users.

Maybe Archman...

Good for you, but I need a desktop client because:
-Google Docs sucks. A LOT.
-MS Word Online is pretty good interface-wise, but it can't even open half of my docx documents (which is strange, given the fact that it's their own format!) and when it does open a document, it messes up the layout every now and then and every document with more than 5 pages is excruciatingly slow to navigate and type in, and sometimes tables are a PITA to work with.

In that case, you can spend a couple of seconds installing a suite you like. Most people don't write long documents, and with how rarely they need an office suite, not wasting your disk space and write cycles with updates is a benefit. I'd mention bandwidth as well, but at this point I rarely use non-fiber internet connections.

Assuming that an office suite is critical to a desktop is just backwards. These days you rarely do things outside of your browser. As much as I don't want to say it, ChromeOS is getting it right.

[Slithery]

So what's the new best easy to use Arch based distribution?

Arch.

[profoundWHALE]

How does bundling software that makes you pay to save as a .doc or .ppt improve compatibility ?

I just downloaded and installed the software just to confirm whether or not what you say is true. The software allows you to open .doc files but only to save in the newer docx format or their own format if you don't want to pay.

IF you're stuck working with the older .doc then you'll be using LibreOffice anyway.

Here's a comparison page: https://www.softmaker.com/en/compari...ftmaker-office

This isn't about adding support, but bundling it on a default install.

How many distros install Steam by default?

The point is not whether or not Steam support was installed, but whether people were supportive of a distro working with valve to make sure steam works better with it.

The two things that really keep people from adopting Linux is Microsoft Office and games. Steam is helping with the fight against Microsoft's PC gaming domination, but when someone does the same with Office products people get upset. It's so dumb.

My problem with this FreeOffice bundle is that it has tons of missing features compared to LibreOffice and the paid Softmaker Office.

It's apparently crippled and if I'm reading right, it wont let you save in older Office formats and doesn't even have spell check.

I keep seeing people comment with stuff like this without substance. Maybe people can provide examples (like the comparison page above) instead of vague generalizations.

I'll give you some facts. The windows binary for FreeDesktop is 114MB and LibreOffice is 282MB. The DEB binaries are 123MB and 168MB respectively. Is that a sign of a more efficient piece of software? Is it a sign of a lack of features? Until someone can point out some lack of features then I'll assume it's just more efficient.

I'll give you an example of a problem I had with Libreoffice:

LO = LibreOffice
FO = FreeOffice
MO = Microsoft Office

---

To be clear I'm not trying to support FreeOffice or say it's the best. I'm saying that you guys are making a mountain out of a molehill and unless you give specific instances of "x is better than y" then no one will change their minds.

---

So what's the new best easy to use Arch based distribution?

If you followed the link from Phoronix to the announcement you'll be happy to know that community Manjaro builds can do whatever they want, including removing FreeOffice or replacing it.

[josh_walrath]

You are not making much sense. Why are you assuming everyone would need to "unleash the true potential of GNU/Linux" at all, and why would people turn back to Win/Mac if they are fine with what can be done with a basic-user-oriented distro.

Many people just need the PC to browse the internet, run music/videos, and write documents or use spreadsheets.

Notwithstanding that Manjaro is one of the best distros for people that want to customize their system thoroughly if they feel like so it's a very good distro for people that are "unleashing the true potential of GNU/Linux".

starshipeleven trying to talk sense to hyperaut elitists?

I'm proud of you. <3

I am not talking about being an IT, I am talking about unleashing the true potential of GNU/Linux which is a combination of expertise with specific GNU (GUI) applications and the command lines. People switch to other distros when reach this point otherwise come back to Win or macOS which are better suited for new users.

Yeah, I love how Manjaro combines the power of Linux with the ease of use of Windows, but I think I'm going to pure Arch soon because I want to spend an extra hour every time I have to reinstall my system so I feel like a true graybeard desu

One day, maybe I'll advance to Gentoo so that I can manually compile all of my programs

And ditch graphical WMs so I can save up to 3 GB of my 32 GBs of RAM

Or maybe abandon Linux for BSD, since that's where the hardestcore deranged boomers go. Why haven't you gotten that far yet? Don't tell me this is your final form, senpai.

[Britoid]

So what's the new best easy to use Arch based distribution?

Install Arch.

[swagg_boi]

What happens if/when a user files a bug report for this Free(ofCost)Office? Seems like a bad idea to me, maybe I'm biased because I prefer Free software that actually is

[elatllat]

So what's the new best easy to use Arch based distribution?

[tildearrow]

Typo:

On Majaro 18.1 this will allow accessing