f other document types.
Although a Linux application, such as Words or Presents, may be able to import a Microsoft Office document, the application may not be able to handle the full range of document and object types that can be embedded in an Office document. Some document and object types, for example, require access to a host application that runs only under Microsoft Windows.
Moreover, some Linux applications do not currently support all the styles and options of their Office counterparts. For example, if a document uses Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications, the document will probably not function correctly under Linux.
If you plan on moving documents to and from Office, you may want to save your documents in a portable format (such as RTF), rather than a Microsoft proprietary format. This will significantly improve the chances that your document will work correctly both in Windows and Linux.
Figure 8.5 shows the Spreadsheets application, which provides functions similar to those of Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheets lets you create ordinary spreadsheets as well as 3D charts and sheets, and supports live links to objects created by Applixware and third-party applications, including Applix Data, which provides access to relational databases. Spreadsheets implements Applix's Extension Language Facility (ELF), which lets you add custom functions to the hundreds of built-in functions. Spreadsheets can import and export a variety of document types, including Lotus 1-2-3 (WKS, WK1, WK3, and WK4 files) and Microsoft Excel 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 7.0/95, and 97.
Another popular Linux desktop suite is StarOffice, a product of Sun Microsystems. StarOffice is available free of charge from Sun's web site, http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/. The download is about 70 MB, requiring over 6 hours at 28.8 Kbps. The office suite is also available on CD-ROM, for a cost of $9.95 plus shipping and handling.
StarOffice includes an extensive range of applications, including:
To install StarOffice from a StarOffice CD-ROM, log in, mount the CD-ROM, change to the directory that is the mount point of the CD-ROM device, change to the Office50/english/prod_lnx subdirectory, and issue the setup command:su - mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /cdrom cd /cdrom/Office50/english/prod_lnx ./setup
The install program will guide you through the installation process.
If you have downloaded the personal edition, you have a tar file, rather than a CD-ROM diskette. The tar file has a name similar to so501_01.tar. Change to the directory in which you saved the tar file (for example, /download) and issue the following commands:tar xvf so501_01.tar cd so501_inst ./setup
If you saved your tar file using a name other than so501_01.tar, you'll need to adapt the first and second commands accordingly. As when you install from CD-ROM diskette, the install program will guide you through the installation process.
Whether you're installing from CD-ROM diskette or a downloaded file, you should check the README file in the Office50 directory for additional information and instructions that will help you install and use StarOffice.
Once you have installed StarOffice, you can run it by starting X and using a terminal window to issue the following commands:PATH=$PATH:/opt/Office50/bin soffice
If you installed StarOffice into a directory other than /opt/Office50, you'll need to adapt the first command accordingly.
When StarOffice loads, it automatically launches the StarDesktop application, as shown in Figure 8.6. StarDesktop resembles Windows Explorer and the GNOME File Manager. It lets you point, click, drag, and drop to open and manage document files and folders.
Figure 8.7 shows StarWriter, StarOffice's word processor. StarWriter provides PGP-encrypted email and other features not found in Microsoft Office 97. Like Applixware's Words, it imports and exports a variety of document types, including Microsoft Word 97.
Figure 8.8 shows StarImpress, the presentation graphics application included in StarOffice. Like Applixware's Presents, StarImpress imports and exports a variety of docu