If you’re actually trying to install another version of OpenOffice or under a different version of RHEL, then click on the OpenOffice tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

Because of a font-fallback problem with the combination of RHEL 6.0 and OpenOffice 3.2 or 3.3, I am considerably less happy with OpenOffice and more unhappy with Red Hat. But a fair number of the visits to this 'blog are by people looking to install OpenOffice on RHEL, so this entry updates my suggested procedure for installing OpenOffice 3.2.x under RHEL 6.x:

1. If you don't have a JRE installed, then install one. As I write, Sun is at update 23 (while OpenOffice is at update 22), but check with Sun for a more recent version when you are installing OpenOffice. (I suggest that one use jdk-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin or jre-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin, rather than jre-6uxx-linux-xxx.bin.) The remainder of these instructions assume that one has a JRE installed.

2. Remove any earlier installation of OpenOffice. As root, enter these three commands:

   rpm -qa | grep openoffice | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep ooobasis | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep fake-db | xargs rpm -e --nodeps

3. Unpack OOo_3.3.x_Linux_x86_install_wJRE_en-US.tar.gz or OOo_3.3.x_Linux_x86-64_install_wJRE_en-US.tar.gz (or the version appropriate to a devil-language, if you use one of those) to your filespace.

4. Go into resulting OOO33x_mxx_native_packed-x_en-US.xxxx/RPMS/ (or to the OOO33x_mxx_native_packed-x_xx-xx.xxxx/RPMS/ corresponding to your devil-tongue).

5. As root, run these three commands

   find . -maxdepth 1 -name "o*.rpm" | xargs rpm -U
rpm -U desktop-integration/openoffice.org*-redhat-menus-*.noarch.rpm
rpm -U userland/*.rpm

6. Tell OpenOffice which JRE to use:

   • Launch OpenOffice:

     /usr/bin/openoffice.org3

   • Select

     Tools | Options… | OpenOffice.org | Java | Use a Java runtime environment

   • Choose one of the environments that is then listed.
   • Click the OK button.
   • Shut-down OpenOffice. (The selection of JRE will be in effect upon next launch.)

If you’re actually trying to install another version of OpenOffice or under a different version of RHEL, then click on the OpenOffice tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

My suggested procedure for installing OpenOffice 3.2.x under RHEL 6.x is essentially the same, mutatis mutandis, as that for installing OpenOffice 3.2.x under RHEL 5.x.:

1. If you don't have a JRE installed, then install one. As I write, Sun is at update 22 (while OpenOffice is at update 20), but check with Sun for a more recent version when you are installing OpenOffice. (I suggest that one use jdk-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin or jre-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin, rather than jre-6uxx-linux-xxx.bin.) The remainder of these instructions assume that one has a JRE installed.

2. Remove any earlier installation of OpenOffice. As root, enter these three commands:

   rpm -qa | grep openoffice | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep ooobasis | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep fake-db | xargs rpm -e --nodeps

3. Unpack OOo_3.2.x_LinuxIntel_install_wJRE_en-US.tar.gz (or the version appropriate to a devil-language, if you use one of those) to your filespace.

4. Go into resulting OOO32x_mxx_native_packed-x_en-US.xxxx/RPMS/ (or to the OOO32x_mxx_native_packed-x_xx-xx.xxxx/RPMS/ corresponding to your devil-tongue).

5. As root, run

   find . -maxdepth 1 -name "o*.rpm" | xargs rpm -U

6. As root, run

   rpm -U desktop-integration/openoffice.org*-redhat-menus-*.noarch.rpm

   (NB: You may need to log-out and back-in for the Applications menu to be up-dated and list the latest OpenOffice components. Your previous version may continue to be listed on the menu.)

7. As root, run

   rpm -U userland/*.rpm

8. Tell OpenOffice which JRE to use:

   • Launch OpenOffice:

     /usr/bin/openoffice.org3

     (It may not be listed on the applications menu unless you have logged-out and back-in. Before then, you may be able to launch it from the menu by way of a listing for a previous version.)
   • Select

     Tools | Options… | OpenOffice.org | Java | Use a Java runtime environment

   • Choose one of the environments that is then listed.
   • Click the OK button.
   • Shut-down OpenOffice. (The selection of JRE will be in effect upon next launch.)

If you're actually trying to install another version of Firefox, then click on the Firefox tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

Since a fair number of the hits to this 'blog are from searches as how to install Firefox 3.5 under RHEL 5.x or as to how to install Firefox 3.0 under RHEL 5.x, I'm going to infer that people are and will be surfing the WWWeb for instructions on how to install Firefox 3.6 under RHEL 5.x. Here are the steps that I recommend:

1. Download the archive, firefox-3.6.n.tar.bz2.
2. The tarball contains a directory, firefox, which should be dropped-in as a sub-directory of something. If you want to ponder where, then study the FHS. As for me, as root, I put it in /opt:

   tar -xjvf firefox-3.6.n.tar.bz2 -C /opt/

   (Replace that n with the actual number from the archive that you downloaded.)
3. Make sure that you have compat-libstdc++-33 (a Gnome C++ compatibility library):

   rpm -qa | grep compat-libstdc++-33

   If not, then as root install it:

   yum install compat-libstdc++-33

4. To avoid conflicts with SELinux, as root run

   chcon -t textrel_shlib_t /opt/firefox/libxul.so

   (If you didn't install the directory in /opt, or renamed the firefox directory, then you'll need to modify the above final argument to chcon accordingly.)
5. You'll need a .desktop file for Firefox (though you may already have one). As root, edit/create /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop, ensuring that it reads

   [Desktop Entry]
   Categories=Application;Network;X-Red-Hat-Base;
   Type=Application
   Encoding=UTF-8
   Name=Firefox
   Comment='WWW browser'
   Exec='/opt/firefox/firefox'
   Icon='/opt/firefox/icons/mozicon128.png'
   Terminal=false

   (Again, if you didn't install in /opt, or changed the name of the firefox directory, then you'll need to change the above accordingly.)
6. Log out and back in or restart the system (to up-date the GUI).

If you’re actually trying to install another version of OpenOffice, then click on the OpenOffice tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

My suggested procedure for installing OpenOffice 3.2.x under RHEL 5.x is essentially the same, mutatis mutandis, as that for installing OpenOffice 3.1.x:

1. If you don't have a JRE installed, then install one. As I write, OpenOffice and Sun are in-synch at update 18, but check with Sun for a more recent version when you are installing OpenOffice. (I suggest that one use jdk-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin or jre-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin, rather than jre-6uxx-linux-xxx.bin.) The remainder of these instructions assume that one has a JRE installed.

2. Remove any earlier installation of OpenOffice. As root, enter these three commands:

   rpm -qa | grep openoffice | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep ooobasis | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep fake-db | xargs rpm -e --nodeps

3. Unpack OOo_3.2.x_LinuxIntel_install_wJRE_en-US.tar.gz (or the version appropriate to a devil-language, if you use one of those) to your filespace.

4. Go into resulting OOO32x_mxx_native_packed-x_en-US.xxxx/RPMS/ (or to the OOO32x_mxx_native_packed-x_xx-xx.xxxx/RPMS/ corresponding to your devil-tongue).

5. As root, run

   find . -maxdepth 1 -name "o*.rpm" | xargs rpm -U

6. As root, run

   rpm -U desktop-integration/openoffice.org*-redhat-menus-*.noarch.rpm

   (NB: You may need to log-out and back-in for the Applications menu to be up-dated and list the latest OpenOffice components. Your previous version may continue to be listed on the menu.)

7. As root, run

   rpm -U userland/*.rpm

8. Tell OpenOffice which JRE to use:

   • Launch OpenOffice:

     /usr/bin/openoffice.org3

     (It may not be listed on the applications menu unless you have logged-out and back-in. Before then, you may be able to launch it from the menu by way of a listing for a previous version.)
   • Select

     Tools | Options… | OpenOffice.org | Java | Use a Java runtime environment

   • Choose one of the environments that is then listed.
   • Click the OK button.
   • Shut-down OpenOffice. (The selection of JRE will be in effect upon next launch.)

When one installs rar in Red Hat Linux,

yum install rar

and then attempts to run rar or unrar, one is likely to get a failure with the diagnostic

rar: /lib/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.7' not found (required by rar)

In various fora, the recommendation has been to install a newer version of glibc or somesuch. Such updating would be a signally bad idea, likely to disable the operating system.

Instead, note that the rar package came with rar_static. Use that in place of rar. (If it makes you happier, you could delete rar and rename or alias rar_static with rar.)

If you're actually trying to install another version of Firefox, then click on the Firefox tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

Firefox 3.5.2 has been released. I imagine that someone will soon provide an .rpm; but, for now, Red Hat users will have to install things from a tarball. Since a fair number of the hits to this 'blog are from searches as to how to install Firefox 3.0 under RHEL 5.x, I'm going to infer that people are and will be surfing the WWWeb for instructions on how to install Firefox 3.5 under RHEL 5.x.

My first piece of advice is that one not install Firefox 3.5.1. When I tried using it, it would do something that caused the Linux user account to be logged-out. However, I've being trying version 3.5.2, and so far I've not had that problem with it. [Up-Date (2009:08/17): Unfortunately, I have since had some problems with version 3.5.2 logging me out of the system, and on one occasion it screw-up the display resolution. But these problems have not been so frequent as to move me to stop using this version.] That said, here are the steps that I recommend:

1. Download the archive, firefox-3.5.n.tar.bz2.
2. The tarball contains a directory, firefox, which should be dropped-in as a sub-directory of something. If you want to ponder where, then study the FHS. As for me, as root, I put it in /opt:

   tar -xjvf firefox-3.5.n.tar.bz2 -C /opt/

   (Replace that n with the actual number from the archive that you downloaded.)
3. Make sure that you have compat-libstdc++-33 (a Gnome C++ compatibility library):

   rpm -qa | grep compat-libstdc++-33

   If not, then as root install it:

   yum install compat-libstdc++-33

4. To avoid conflicts with SELinux, as root run

   chcon -t textrel_shlib_t /opt/firefox/libxul.so

   (If you didn't install the directory in /opt, or renamed the firefox directory, then you'll need to modify the above final argument to chcon accordingly.)
5. You'll need a .desktop file for Firefox (though you may already have one). As root, edit/create /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop, ensuring that it reads

   [Desktop Entry]
   Categories=Application;Network;X-Red-Hat-Base;
   Type=Application
   Encoding=UTF-8
   Name=Firefox
   Comment='WWW browser'
   Exec='/opt/firefox/firefox'
   Icon='/opt/firefox/icons/mozicon128.png'
   Terminal=false

   (Again, if you didn't install in /opt, or changed the name of the firefox directory, then you'll need to change the above accordingly.)
6. Log out and back in or restart the system (to up-date the GUI).

If you’re actually trying to install another version of OpenOffice, then click on the OpenOffice tag, as there may be an entry on that other version.

My suggested procedure for installing OpenOffice 3.1.x under RHEL 5.x is essentially the same, mutatis mutandis, as that for installing OpenOffice 3.0.x:

1. If you don't have a JRE installed, then install one. Version 1.6.0 update 13 of the JRE was distributed with OpenOffice 3.1.0 when Sun was already at update 14. As I write, OpenOffice and Sun are in-synch at update 16, but check with Sun for a more recent version when you are installing OpenOffice. (I suggest that one use jdk-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin or jre-6uxx-linux-xxx-rpm.bin, rather than jre-6uxx-linux-xxx.bin.) The remainder of these instructions assume that one has a JRE installed.

2. Remove any earlier installation of OpenOffice. As root, enter these two commands:

   rpm -qa | grep openoffice | xargs rpm -e --nodeps
rpm -qa | grep ooobasis | xargs rpm -e --nodeps

3. Unpack OOo_3.1.x_LinuxIntel_install_wJRE_en-US.tar.gz (or the version appropriate to a devil-language, if you use one of those) to your filespace.

4. Go into resulting OOO31x_mxx_native_packed-x_en-US.xxxx/RPMS/ (or to the OOO31x_mxx_native_packed-x_xx-xx.xxxx/RPMS/ corresponding to your devil-tongue).

5. As root, run

   find . -maxdepth 1 -name "o*.rpm" | xargs rpm -U

6. As root, run

   rpm -U desktop-integration/openoffice.org*-redhat-menus-*.noarch.rpm

   (NB: You may need to log-out and back-in for the Applications menu to be up-dated and list the latest OpenOffice components. Your previous version may continue to be listed on the menu.)

7. As root, run

   rpm -U userland/*.rpm

8. Tell OpenOffice which JRE to use:

   • Launch OpenOffice:

     /usr/bin/openoffice.org3

     (It may not be listed on the applications menu unless you have logged-out and back-in. Before then, you may be able to launch it from the menu by way of a listing for a previous version.)
   • Select

     Tools | Options… | OpenOffice.org | Java | Use a Java runtime environment

   • Choose one of the environments that is then listed.
   • Click the OK button.
   • Shut-down OpenOffice. (The change will be in effect upon next launch.)

NB: This entry was editted on 2009:09/13, to make it compatible with OpenOffice version 3.1.1, and otherwise to improve the instructions. One of the improvements reflects the discussion in the first two comments to this entry.

The Windows partition on my computer has its own Linux .Trash folder for each account, which folder is not cleared when I select the Empty Trash option of the Trash icon of my Linux desktop. So I thought, Eh, I'll created some symbolic links in my home-folder, so that I can quickly access the /mnt/WindowsXP/.Trash-root and /mnt/WindowsXP/.Trash-daniel.

An amusing thing occurred when I tried to delete files from one of the .Trash folders with the GUI by opening the folder by way of the symbolic link, selecting the files to be deleted, and then using the Delete key.

The file is deleted, but it's replaced with a copy. Delete x.y, and it is replaced by x (copy).y; delete that and it's replaced by x (another copy).jpg, which would be replaced by x (3rd copy).y, and so forth.

(The same results obtain if one selects Move to Trash, but the result is a little less bizarre since one is then plainly telling the computer to move the file to a directory in which it is already listed.)

Convenient work-arounds are easy enough when I want to empty the whole .Trash folder by way of the GUI, but these symbolic links aren't nearly as useful as I'd hoped.

After a hugger-mugger of up-dates to my Linux installation, I found myself unable to access the Windows NTFS partition on my computer while running Linux.

I had been using the NTFS-3G driver to support such access. NTFS-3G, in turn, uses the fuse file-system API to support such access. Red Hat doesn't support fuse with their kernels, and I don't want to manually rebuild support for it, nor to wait on someone else to do so, whenever Red Hat releases a new kernel, so I support fuse by way of dkms. Thus, to access the Windows NTFS partition, I was using packages

• dkms-x.x.x.x-x.noarch.rpm
• fuse-x.x.x-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm
• dkms-fuse-x.x.x-x.nodist.rf.noarch.rpm
• fuse-ntfs-3g-x.xxxx-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm

Anyway, when I would try to mount the Windows NTFS partition, I would get a message that /lib/modules/2.6.18-xx.el5/extra/fuse.ko did not exist. There was actually a directory entry for it, but that entry was a redirection to a non-existent file.

As it turned-out, something had gone wrong with my up-dating from RHEL 5.2 to RHEL 5.3, and not only did I not have the most recent versions of the kernels installed, but there was a version mis-match between the kernel to which I was booting and the associated -devel[opment] package. dkms was thus unable to automatically rebuild the fuse file-system interface.

I installed the most recent versions of the kernel and their associated -devel packages, rebooted the system, uninstalled and then reïnstalled fuse-x.x.x-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm, dkms-fuse-x.x.x-x.nodist.rf.noarch.rpm, and fuse-ntfs-3g-x.xxxx-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm. (I doubt that I needed to uninstall and reïnstall fuse-x.x.x-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm and fuse-ntfs-3g-x.xxxx-x.elx.rf.i386.rpm, but I didn't and don't want to bother puzzling that out.) I was then again able to access the Windows NTFS partition.

Red Hat has released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3, and appears to be celebrating that release with, well, server dysfunction. The mailing lists are buzzing with anger over the slowness of the automatic up-dating routines. This morning, I spent several hours on a high-speed connection trying to down-load a disc image (and finally gave up). A few days ago I was being denied access to any downloads as if I had no active subscription. Their bugzilla tells me that my password has expired, but the link that they sent me to up-date it results in some sort of proxy error.

Barring some remarkable act of contrition on the part of Red Hat, I won't be buying any more subscriptions from them. I'll switch to something such as CentOS.