FC3 and StarOffice 5.2

[Graeme Nichols]

Hello Rick,

On Fri, 2005-01-07 at 06:28, Rick Stevens wrote: 
> Graeme Nichols wrote:
> > Hello Folks, 
> > 
> > Could some kind soul please tell me if FC3 (with kernel 2.6.9, I think.
> > The kernel that comes with the distro anyway) has any problems with
> > StarOffice 5.2.
> > 
> > I am currently on FC2 with kernel 2.6.6 because FC2 with kernel 2.6.8
> > clobbered StarOffice 5.2. Wouldn't run! I had to regress to kernel 2.6.6
> > to get StarOffice 5.2 working.
> > 
> > Why worry with SO 5.2 you might ask. The simple answer is "I like it in
> > preference to OO" Also, I have a whole heap of stuff written in SO 5.2
> > and want to stay compatible with some other users of SO 5.2
> > 
> > I have been sitting on the FC3 CDs for some time now but want to upgrade
> > to Evolution 2 so now is probably the right time, BUT... not if SO 5.2
> > gets clobbered in the process.
> > 
> > All information and experiences gratefully received.
> 
> I don't use SO anymore, but OO can save in SO format so it is backwards
> compatible with SO.  At least I've had no problems working with old SO
> files.

Yep! that's true Rick but my experience is that they're not 100%
compatible. Close enough for most practical purposes but not 100%, which
I need.

> As to SO's compatibility with 2.6 kernels...that I don't know.  I don't
> have SO installed on any FC2 or 3 systems.  I still have it installed
> on my old FC1 system, but that's a 2.4 kernel.

<rant>

SO and the 2.6 kernels do not co-habit gracefully. In fact, I am not at
all impressed with the 2.6 kernels and their compatibility and bug
reports to the kernel folk are treated as though one is a complete idiot
and comprehensively ignored. My bug reports to the kernel folk about 2.6
kernels and USB related problems resulted in me being told I didn't know
what I was talking about, there were no USB problems, just incompatible
hardware/bios, even though I and a lot of others suffered USB problems.
As the 2.6 kernels have progressed through the various releases some
bugs have been fixed and others introduced. 2.6 kernels might work just
fine on the kernel developer's machines but in my humble opinion that is
not good enough. New kernels should never be released until they have
been comprehensively tested on the widest possible amount of hardware
and users. Interestingly, there are no 2.6 kernels in the enterprise
versions of RedHat I believe.

</rant>

Now that I have got that out of my system, the next question is, If I
upgrade to FC3 and SO simply fails to load and run (a la 2.6.8 kernel),
can I go back to an earlier kernel, say 2.6.6 or even earlier (2.4 for
example) under FC3? And another question if I may, can Evolution 2 be
installed under FC2 without major dependency problems do you know
offhand? I know I can try all this and see but I would like to know what
other's experience has been before I burn my bridges. If no one else has
any experience of these questions then I have been known to jump
blindfolded :-)

Rick, all the best for the New Year,


--
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Kind regards, Graeme Nichols.
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There are three kinds of people: men, women, and unix.
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