Tips & tricks
Installing FreeOffice for Linux
FreeOffice contains a set of 64-bit applications that can be used with 64-bit (x86_64, amd64) Linux distributions. 32-bit distributions are not supported.
We test FreeOffice with the current versions of the following distributions and recommend choosing one of them:
Information about installing on other systems can be found here.
You can install SoftMaker FreeOffice for Linux in one of the following two ways:
- Via the SoftMaker repository: This is the recommended installation method if you are using a DEB-based or RPM-based Linux. You add the SoftMaker repository once to your Linux system and then receive all updates automatically.
- By downloading from our web server: You download SoftMaker FreeOffice and install it manually. When an update is released, you download the new installation package and install it again manually.
Debian
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
su -
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -qO- https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/linux-repo-public.key | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
apt update
apt install softmaker-freeoffice-2021
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
su -
apt update
apt upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
First, download the .deb installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice:
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
su -
apt update
apt install -f ./softmaker-freeoffice-2021_1062-01_amd64.deb
Note: If you have not downloaded the .deb file to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the .deb file.
When a service pack is released, download the latest .deb installation package and install it again as just described.
Ubuntu, Linux Mint
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo -i
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -qO- https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/linux-repo-public.key | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
apt update
apt install softmaker-freeoffice-2021
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
First, download the .deb installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice:
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -f ./softmaker-freeoffice-2021_1062-01_amd64.deb
Note: If you have not downloaded the .deb file to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the .deb file.
When a service pack is released, download the latest .deb installation package and install it again as just described.
Manjaro
SoftMaker FreeOffice is included in Manjaro's repository, thus making its installation particularly easy.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo pamac install freeoffice
The Manjaro package manager keeps SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
Fedora
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to set up the repository:
sudo wget -qO /etc/yum.repos.d/softmaker.repo https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/softmaker.repo
If you use dnf, proceed as follows to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install softmaker-freeoffice-2021
If you use yum, proceed as follows to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo yum update
sudo yum install softmaker-freeoffice-2021
If Fedora prompts you to confirm the import of the SoftMaker GPG key, you should do so.
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
– If you use yum:
sudo yum update
– If you use dnf:
sudo dnf update
Alternative: Manual installation
Our RPM installation packages are digitally signed. Before installing SoftMaker FreeOffice, you should download our public GPG key:
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to import the GPG key:
sudo rpm --import ./linux-repo-public.key
Note: If you have not downloaded the GPG key to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the key file.
If you skip this step, you will still be able to install SoftMaker RPM packages, but you must press Ignore when you are informed of the missing GPG key.
Then install SoftMaker FreeOffice by double-clicking on the RPM installation package.
When a service pack is released, download the latest RPM installation package, and install it again with a double click.
openSUSE
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository:
sudo zypper addrepo -f https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/rpm SoftMaker
sudo zypper --gpg-auto-import-keys ref
You must confirm these commands by entering your root password.
Then enter this command to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo zypper install softmaker-freeoffice-2021
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
– If you use zypper:
sudo zypper update
– If you use yum:
sudo yum update
– If you use dnf:
sudo dnf upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
Our RPM installation packages are digitally signed. Before installing SoftMaker FreeOffice, you should download our public GPG key:
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to import the GPG key:
sudo rpm --import ./linux-repo-public.key
Note: If you have not downloaded the GPG key to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the key file.
Do not skip this step, as the installation will fail otherwise with the obscure error message "Internal error" flashing briefly on the screen.
Then install SoftMaker FreeOffice by right-clicking on the RPM installation package and selecting "Open with" and then "YaST Software." Press Accept to start the installation.
When a service pack is released, you can install it in the same way.
Installation on other systems
If your system is not listed here and you cannot run the installation by means of the above instructions, you can install SoftMaker FreeOffice using our .tgz-based installation package.
First, download the .tgz installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice:
Unpack it:
tar xvzf ./softmaker-freeoffice-2021-1062-amd64.tgz
Note: If you have not downloaded the .tgz file to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the .tgz file.
Then run the installation script contained in it:
./installfreeoffice
Restoring document icons
The icons for common document formats such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX are assigned to FreeOffice when you install it. If you do not like our icon style, you can easily restore the previous icons by running this script:
sudo /usr/share/freeoffice2021/mime/remove_icons.sh
