Lubuntu 21.04 hirsute not Libreoffice base?

[aug7744]

Libreoffice base is installed in Lubuntu 21.04 or need to be installed after Lubuntu install is finished ?
Have an nice day.
Thanks for your reply.

[That_Random_Guy]

I believe it is included in the installation so when you’re done, it should already be there.

At least that’s what I recall. I think it was different in the LXDE days but my memory is very shot.

[guiverc]

You can always view the manifest for any Ubuntu (or flavor like Lubuntu) ISO and see what’s included.

Lubuntu 21.04’s manifest can be found with our ISO at https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/21.04/release/

ie. Libreoffice* packages are

|libreoffice-base-core|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|---|---|
|libreoffice-calc|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-common|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-core|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-draw|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-gtk3|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-help-common|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-help-en-us|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-impress|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-math|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-qt5|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-style-breeze|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-style-colibre|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|
|libreoffice-writer|1:7.1.2~rc2-0ubuntu2|

[rex]

LXDE Lubuntu used Abiword and Gnumeric as default applications but I had a need for LibreOffice so I had to install it after the initial installation.

[aug7744]

I has installed Lubuntu 21.04 not unninstalled any Libreoffice component and start menu not has Libreoffice Base icon.
Package Manager MUON in list has libreoffice-base-core , but not has any icon in start menu.
Starting Libreoffice main link (Libreoffice displaying all libreoffice softwares) not has libreoffice-base.
Using an VM and starting with Lubuntu 21.04 ISO also not is listed libreoffice-base.
Have anything wrong also in ISO.

[rex]

Misunderstood your question. While libreoffice-base-core is installed by default, it appears that libreoffice-base is not. Install it using whatever means you desire. I used synaptic.

[guiverc]

My prior answer didn’t fully answer your question, so sorry about that.

The fact that we include libreoffice-base-core may have been misleading as it’s purpose is

libreoffice-base-core - office productivity suite -- shared library

but needed to make the database program work are

libreoffice-base - office productivity suite -- database
libreoffice-base-drivers - Database connectivity drivers for LibreOffice

though there is an extra optional component as well

libreoffice-base-nogui - office productivity suite -- database (no GUI variant)`

Whilst the two packages may not seem like a lot, they have (dependency) requirements, many of which we don’t include

guiverc@d960-ubu2:~/uwn$   apt-cache depends libreoffice-base
libreoffice-base
  PreDepends: dpkg
    dpkg:i386
  Depends: libreoffice-base-core
  Depends: libreoffice-base-drivers
  Depends: libreoffice-common
  Depends: libreoffice-core
  Depends: ucf
  Depends: libc6
  Depends: libgcc-s1
  Depends: libstdc++6
  Depends: libuno-cppu3
  Depends: libuno-cppuhelpergcc3-3
  Depends: libuno-sal3
  Depends: libuno-salhelpergcc3-3
  Depends: uno-libs-private
  Breaks: libreoffice-common
  Recommends: libreoffice-writer
  Recommends: libreoffice-java-common
 |Recommends: default-jre
 |Recommends: <java8-runtime>
    default-jre
    openjdk-11-jre
    openjdk-15-jre
    openjdk-16-jre
    openjdk-17-jre
    openjdk-8-jre
  Recommends: <jre>
  Suggests: libreoffice-report-builder
  Suggests: python3-uno
  Suggests: unixodbc
    unixodbc:i386
  Replaces: libreoffice-common

so it actually pulls in quite a few packages.

No a default Lubuntu 21.04 install (impish too) does not include the Libreoffice database or ‘base’ application.

Please note I’ve used my primary impish system for my queries, but I believe the answers will be [almost] identical to a hirsute system

[aug7744]

@rex
“Misunderstood” ?
You are helping in topic.

@guiverc
I remember you from Ubuntu forum

Installed Libreoffice Base and starting correctly.
Thanks very much.

[aug7744]

@guiverc

What is the because libreoffice-base not is added in Lubuntu ISO ? security or ISO less file size ?

[guiverc]

I can’t answer that sorry, I can only give an opinion or really guess. I only started QA-testing Lubuntu in the cosmic or 18.10 cycle (first LXQt release) where the switch from the apps to Qt5 had already occurred in prior Lubuntu Next releases.

My guesses are

1. We didn’t have a database in the legacy or LXDE Lubuntu

2. It increases the size of the ISO (focal & hirsute ISOs fitted on a 2GB drive, impish has already exceeded that size needing a larger thumb-drive… this would have occurred earlier if the Libreoffice Base (database) program had been included due to requirements also needing to be included.

3. No-one really requested it (ie. feature request)

But please note, these are only my thoughts, as I have no special knowledge as I wasn’t in the discussions, and wasn’t in the Lubuntu team until after the decision had been made.

FYI: For now at least, the following link https://phab.lubuntu.me/w/bugs/ provides a pretty good comparison of old legacy & unsupported LXDE Lubuntu & our new modern Lubuntu LXQt.

[teward]

I cannot speak for anyone on the team or decisions, but…

I believe that since no Lubuntu version has ever carried libreoffice-base nor has any Ubuntu variant ever carried it by default, that it’s just been decided that “unless there is MAJOR demand for it, we’re not going to include it.”

We can probably apply similar reasoning that Microsoft has for Microsoft Access: “Most things have transitioned to using SQL Server Express inbuilt to the applications at install time, or to SQLite for flat-file databases, so unless someone is needing to support legacy, no-longer-considered-stable-for-production Access databases, we no longer need to ship Microsoft Access as part of the ‘standard’ Microsoft suite and only for the edge cases where it’s needed.” Which in turn led to Microsoft Office Enterprise Plus, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5 are the only variants of Microsoft plans which actually ship Access anymore. Or, you have to go and pay something in the realm of $150 for a single computer to run Access just to support the legacy software.

In the modern era of computing, most software uses SQLite for flat file databases now, and Microsoft Access or LibreOffice Base flat file databases have more or less gone the way of the dinosaur. Very very few (read: almost zero) programs written that need DB functionality in the modern era speak MS Access or LibreOffice flavors of SQL anymore, because they’ve simply been outdeveloped and outclassed by easier-to-implement database formats (SQLite) and the ease of installing full database software like MySQL/MariaDB or Postgres.

Unless there’s some type of massive demand by all users of Lubuntu (or a huge majority of them) to add libreoffice-base I’m almost certain it’s not going to land in any of the installation images or default installers - whether Lubuntu or one of the other flavors, or main Ubuntu.

[aug7744]

correct decision
Have an nice week.