For years now users on the Libre Office forums have been discussing a problem where some kind of lock file issue prevents LibreOffice saving, or in some cases even opening files.
This is not limited to a certain type of file, but I first came across it with LibreOffice .odt (text) files when I tried to save one and was told that LibreOffice could not get access to permissions to lock usage of ... or some rubbish warning along those lines.
Later I got a similar warning when I tried to open an existing LibreOffice document.
Now, when this happened some years ago, i managed to clear the problem by finding and deleting the offending ~lock file in my /home/Documents directory. This year however, and perhaps it can be blamed on Covid, I could not clear the problem. I tried every trick I know and then stalked the LibreOffice and other forums, only to find that there is no known solution.
Basically, if it happens to you, you 'might' be able to clear it by finding and deleting the offending lock file, but otherwise, you're stuffed.
So I found a couple of work-arounds. None are perfect, but one way or another they work.
All Linux distributions regardless of their Desktop Environment have a couple of programs for Text editing (Abiword) and Spreadsheeting (Gnumeric).
The one that might be noticed though is LibreOffice Impress (Presentation Manager). There are some options in the repositories, but one I have always had access to was Calligra Stage - part of the old KDE KOffice Suite.
For that matter, Calligra Words and Calligra Sheets are also good replacements for LibreOffice, although they have a bit of a learning curve due to their unusual implementation of some common functions.
That said though, they are excellent.
So between AbiWord, Gnumeric, Calligra Words, calligra Sheets and Calligra Stage, I had all my requirements covered.
Then I remembered a program I use on my Android Tablets that I chose because it is almost identical to LibreOffice in looks and function.
That program is SoftMaker Office. It can be downloaded from:
The Download page is here:
DOWNLOAD SOFTMAKER OFFICE for Linux
The Current version (2021) is NOT Free. It costs about $64 one time payment, but divided by a year that's about One Dollar a week. That's pretty cheap for commercial software, and the charge includes appropriate on-going updates. Instructions are on the site are provided to set the PPA for updates.
However, there are a couple of previous versions, with the latest of these the 2018 version available HERE:
The 2018 version has TextMaker (Writer equivalent) and PlanMaker (Calc equivalent) plus Presentations (the Presentation manager).
This is Free to download and use, but requires a Product Key. I cannot remember how I got the product key, but SoftMaker emailed one to me.
SoftMaker Office early versions Download
I'm going to hit PUBLISH, but I intend getting back to this to add some images and further comments.
There is one more useful link on the SoftMaker website:
Tips & tricks: Installing SoftMaker Office 2021 for Linux
My 2018 version of SoftMaker Office is Free to use, although it did require email registration.
If for some reason you cannot get SoftMaker Office to send you a registration Product Key, Calligra Stage works nicely as a Presentation Manager, and calligra Words with Calligra Sheets, teamed with Abiword and Gnumeric will get you out of trouble.
Desktop Publishing is covered nicely by Scribus !
