Chapter 6
Productivity Applications
Many businesses have already found a way to benefit from free and open source software, such as office productivity suites like LibreOffice, instead of paying license fees for business use of either traditional locally installed options or web apps. However, more applications beyond these are available in Ubuntu. In this chapter, we explore some of them.
Note
It’s important to understand that even though free and open source software does very well most of the time, especially with less-complex documents, it is not 100 percent compatible with Microsoft Office. Why is this? Microsoft is notoriously secretive about its proprietary file formats, and the only way that free and open source alternatives could ensure compatibility would be to reverse-engineer each file format, an exercise akin to taking apart a telephone to see how it works. This reverse-engineering is difficult to do in a legal way and is rarely perfect. However, many open source alternatives manage to maintain a very high standard of importing and exporting, so you should not experience too many problems except with documents of great complexity. For example, this book was written using LibreOffice, whereas the post-production at the publisher uses Microsoft tools.
The biggest compatibility issue between Microsoft Office and suites like LibreOffice is that Microsoft’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and scripts produced using it do not always transfer. If you use VBA scripts, you should test as most are compatible, but occasionally you may need to find another way to perform the functions for which they were written.
A productivity suite is defined as two or more applications bundled together and used for creating documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and databases. Other applications that might be included in such a bundle are email clients, calculators/formula editors, and illustration or drawing software. Commonly, they are all tied together with a common look and feel, which makes sticking to one particular suite much easier. Because Ubuntu uses LibreOffice as its standard office suite, we introduce you to that first. We also take a brief look at some of the other Linux-based productivity applications.
Productivity for the Typical User
For the majority of users of productivity suites, LibreOffice should fulfill most, if not all, requirements. However, the first hurdle is not whether it can do what you require of it but rather whether it can successfully import and export to proprietary Microsoft formats at a standard that is acceptable to your needs. Most of the time, LibreOffice should import and export with minimal hassle, perhaps getting a bit stuck with some of the more esoteric Microsoft Office formatting. Given that most users do not go much beyond tabs, columns, and tables, this level of compatibility should suffice.
However, you are strongly advised to round up a selection of documents and spreadsheets that seem the most likely to be difficult for the import/export filter and test them thoroughly (of course, keeping a backup of the originals). A system administrator who has deployed a new productivity suite does not want to suddenly get users complaining that they cannot read their files. This would quickly destroy any benefits gained from the other useful functions within LibreOffice and could even cause a return to proprietary formats and expensive office suites.
On the positive side, LibreOffice supports a huge array of file formats and can export to nearly 70 types of documents. Such a variety of file formats means that you should be able to successfully use LibreOffice in nearly any environment, including formats no longer used by currently produced and maintained software, so it may be able to open some old files and documents you had once given up for lost.
Introducing LibreOffice
LibreOffice contains a number of productivity applications for use in creating text documents, preparing spreadsheets, organizing presentations, managing projects, and so on. The following components of the LibreOffice package are included with Ubuntu:
▸ Writer—This word processing program enables you to compose, format, and organize text documents. If you are accustomed to using Microsoft Word, the functionality of LibreOffice Writer will be familiar to you.
▸ Calc—This spreadsheet program enables you to manipulate numbers in a spreadsheet format. Support for all but the most esoteric Microsoft Excel functions means that trading spreadsheets with Excel users should be successful. Calc offers some limited compatibility with Excel macros, but those macros generally have to be rewritten.
▸ Impress—This presentation program, which is similar to Microsoft PowerPoint, enables you to create slideshow presentations that include graphs, diagrams, and other graphics. Impress also works well with most PowerPoint files.
Note
The following five applications are not included by default with Ubuntu but are quite useful. All but Dia are a part of the LibreOffice project and add features to the suite that are not used as often as those Ubuntu installs by default. You must install them from the Ubuntu repositories if you want or require their functionality.
▸ Math—This math formula editor enables you to write mathematical formulas with a number of math fonts and symbols for inclusion in a word processing document. Such symbols are highly specialized and not easily included in the basic functionality of a word processor. This is of interest primarily to math and science writers, but Math can be useful to anyone who needs to include a complex formula in text.
▸ Base—This is a fully functional database application.
▸ Draw—This graphics application allows you to create images for inclusion in the documents produced with LibreOffice. It saves files only in LibreOffice format, but it can import most common image formats.
▸ Dia—This technical drawing editor enables you to create measured drawings, such as those used by architects and engineers. Its functionality is similar to that of Microsoft Visio.
▸ Planner—You can use this project management application for project planning, scheduling, and tracking; this application is similar to, but not compatible with, Microsoft Project. After you install it, you will find it under the name Project Management.
A Brief History of LibreOffice
LibreOffice started as a fork of the OpenOffice.org office suite. The OpenOffice.org office suite is based on a commercial suite called StarOffice. Originally developed by a German company, StarOffice was purchased by Sun Microsystems in the United States. One of the biggest complaints about the old StarOffice was that all the component applications were integrated under a StarOffice “desktop” that looked very much like a Microsoft Windows desktop, including a Start button and menus. This meant that to edit a simple document, unneeded applications had to be loaded, making the office suite slow to load, slow to run, and quite demanding on system resources.
After the purchase of StarOffice, Sun Microsystems released a large part of the StarOffice code under the GNU General Public License, and development began on what has become OpenOffice.org, which was freely available under the GPL. Sun also continued development on StarOffice. The significant differences between the free and commercial versions of the software were that StarOffice provided more fonts and even more import/export file filters than OpenOffice.org (these filters were not provided in the GPL version because of licensing restrictions), and StarOffice provided its own relational database, Software AG’s Adabas D database. Sun was bought by Oracle. Oracle suffered from a major disagreement with the developer community surrounding OpenOffice.org, and the developers left to form The Document Foundation, hoping that Oracle would eventually join. Because the code for OpenOffice.org was licensed using a free software license, The Document Foundation created a fork, or a new version of the same software, using what they intended as a temporary name, LibreOffice. The hope was merely to change how the project was governed, from being led by one company to being led by a community with many companies and individuals participating. Oracle chose not to join The Document Foundation and instead relicensed the OpenOffice.org code for all future versions, which it may do as the owner of that code, and gave the code to the Apache Software Foundation, which is licensing it under the less-restrictive Apache license that allows open source code to be used in proprietary products. To make things more interesting, IBM is using this Apache-licensed version of OpenOffice.org as the foundation for its own free (in terms of cost) office suite based on it, called Lotus Symphony, which also has some proprietary additions.
As the saga continues, the ultimate winner may be the end user as there are now effectively three competing office suites. For now, LibreOffice has the most developers, the strongest community, and the most mature software with the most rapid addition of new or improved features.
Other Useful Productivity Software
The office suites already discussed in this chapter are ideal for typical office-focused file interactions: creating basic documents, spreadsheets, and so on. However, some users have more complex or precise needs. This section covers some of the options available to help you be productive in those instances.
Working with PDFs
Reading a PDF in Ubuntu is simple. The functionality is available by default, thanks to an installed program called Evince. If you open a PDF, it opens in Evince, where you can read the document. Sometimes filling out forms is less straightforward as the form might have been created using functionality available only with Adobe. You can install Adobe Reader from the Ubuntu Software Center from the Canonical Partners section. Adobe Reader should work with any PDF form created using Adobe software, whether it was created on Windows, macOS, or Linux.
On occasion, you may have a PDF file that you want to edit. That is a little more complex than reading PDFs, but it’s not as difficult as it used to be. There is a program created just for editing PDF files: PDF Edit (pdfedit).
Install pdfedit from the Ubuntu Software Center. On the surface, this program seems simple, but it has great power that is not immediately obvious. Advanced users can learn to use pdfedit in scripts to make sweeping changes quickly. Of course, as with most other powerful tools, it comes with the cost of complexity and a learning curve.
Writing Scripts
While you can write scripts using any standard word processing program, Celtx is a complex and powerful tool for serious writers and production managers. This is useful because scripts require keeping track of more than just words.
The application comes with options to help you organize your scenes; annotate those scenes with notes; create index cards; maintain your list of characters, locations, and props; and far more.
At first glance, Celtx seems overwhelming, but due to the inclusion of some sample projects, learning how to use it is not as difficult as it sounds. Install celtx from the Ubuntu Software Center.
Working with XML and DocBook
Like its ancestor SGML and cousin HTML, XML is a markup language. It is designed for use in a plain-text document. Tags surround specific sections of the text to denote how those sections are to be displayed. Listing 6.1 contains a short example.
LISTING 6-1 Sample XML Excerpt
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xml-stylesheet type="text/css" href="book.css"?>
<book>
<title>Ubuntu Unleashed 2013</title>
<edition>8</edition>
<chapter>
<number>1</number>
<title>Installing Ubuntu</title>
<text>
<paragraph><dropcap>N</dropcap>ot that long ago,the mere mention...
</paragraph>
...
</text>
</chapter>
...
</book>
This could easily be written using a simple text editor like the one installed by default, gedit (called Text Editor in the Dash and the listings in the Ubuntu Software Center). However, doing it that way would be tedious for most people. A better option is to use an editor expressly designed and intended for dealing with XML files. Because DocBook is an open source standard form of XML that has been designed explicitly for use with documentation, many editors that can work with one will work with both. If you only need to do something quick, one of these should be suitable. Start with gedit, which is installed by default. If it is not suitable, look in the Ubuntu Software Center for other options, like the ones discussed next.
If you intend to write a lot of complicated documentation in only the DocBook format, the most common recommendation for Ubuntu is a program called Publican. Publican is not just an editor; it is also a publication system for DocBook. It tests your XML to ensure that it is in a valid DocBook form so that your output conforms to publication standards. It automates output into multiple formats such as HTML and PDF, and it allows complete control for custom skinning and formatting. You can install Publican from the Ubuntu Software Center.
A more powerful option is XML Copy Editor. It is designed for editing most markup languages, including XML, DocBook, DITA, and more. It also features schema validation, syntax highlighting, tag completion, and spell checking. This is the most useful option for a professional documentation specialist. You can install XML Copy Editor from the Ubuntu software repositories, where you can find a version for use on Windows. See http://xml-copy-editor.sourceforge.net.
Working with LaTeX
LaTeX was created for and is widely used in academia. It is a WYGIWYW (“what you get is what you want”) document markup language created for the TeX typesetting system. Multiple editors are available for use with LaTeX, and they are likely to be found for just about every operating system in existence.
Note
WYSIWYG is an acronym for “what you see is what you get” that has often been used to describe word processors and document creation systems that use a graphical interface. Unfortunately, anyone who has created documents with these programs, including the ones mentioned earlier in this chapter, such as LibreOffice, knows that what you see on the screen is not always what appears in the printed version on paper. There are no promises about how things will or will not look on the screen while using a LaTeX editor for your TeX document, but the format promises that the ultimate output will be exactly what you ask for.
A couple of the more popular LaTeX editors available from the Ubuntu Software Center are discussed in this section. You can also create and edit using any text editor, including gedit.
Texmaker not only has a version in the Ubuntu Software Center but also offers versions for Windows and macOS from www.xm1math.net/texmaker/. It is free, easy to use, and mature. The program has been around for a while, and it is stable, has many useful features, and is rather popular in the TeX world.
LyX follows suit with both a version in the Ubuntu Software Center and versions available for Windows and macOS from its website, at www.lyx.org. The main appeal for LyX users is its graphical interface, which makes it an interesting bridge from WYSIWYG to LaTeX. It also has many plug-ins available to expand functionality.
Kile was written and designed for use with KDE. As such, it blends in well with Kubuntu but also runs well on a standard Ubuntu installation. It also has a Windows version available. See https://kile.sourceforge.net for details.
Creating Mind Maps
Sometimes the best way to help you gather your thoughts and ideas is to create a mind map. Heimer helps you do exactly that quickly and with an interface designed for simplicity and speed. There are not a ton of options. Instead, the focus is on providing blocks that you can fill in with text, color code if you want to, then drag and drop the blocks, associate them with other blocks, and so on to create the map you need. You can even export the maps to be used in other applications. Install heimer from the Ubuntu Software Center.
Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is fundamentally different from Linux, yet you can install and run some Microsoft Windows applications in Linux by using an application named Wine. Wine enables you to use Microsoft Windows and DOS programs on UNIX-based systems. Wine includes a program loader that you can use to execute a Windows binary, along with a DLL library that implements Windows command calls, translating them to the equivalent UNIX and X11 command calls. Because of frequent updates to the Wine code base, Wine is not included with Ubuntu. Download a current version of Wine from www.winehq.org. To see whether your favorite application is supported by Wine, you can look at the Wine application database at https://appdb.winehq.org.
Other solutions, primarily CrossOver Office from CodeWeavers, enable use of Microsoft productivity applications. If you are after a closer-to-painless way of running not only Microsoft Office but also Apple iTunes and other software, you should investigate CodeWeavers. CrossOver Office is one of the simplest programs you can use to get Windows-based programs to work. Check out www.codeweavers.com to download a trial version of the latest software.
References
▸ www.libreoffice.org—The home page for the LibreOffice suite
▸ www.documentfoundation.org—The home page for The Document Foundation
▸ www.openoffice.org—The home page for the OpenOffice.org office suite
▸ www.pdfedit.cz/en/index.html—The home page for PDF Edit
▸ www.codeweavers.com—The home page for CrossOver Office from CodeWeavers that enables you to run some Windows programs under Linux