Installing FreeOffice for Linux
FreeOffice contains a set of 64-bit applications that can be used with 64-bit (x86_64, amd64) Linux distributions. 32-bit distributions are not supported.
We test FreeOffice with the current versions of the following distributions and recommend choosing one of them:
Information about installing on other systems can be found here.
You can install SoftMaker FreeOffice for Linux in one of the following two ways:
- Via the SoftMaker repository: This is the recommended installation method if you are using a DEB-based or RPM-based Linux. You add the SoftMaker repository once to your Linux system and then receive all updates automatically.
- By downloading from our web server: You download SoftMaker FreeOffice and install it manually. When an update is released, you download the new installation package and install it again manually.
Debian
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
su -
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -qO- https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/linux-repo-public.key | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
apt update
apt install softmaker-freeoffice-2024
exit
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
su -
apt update
apt upgrade
exit
Alternative: Manual installation
Open a shell or terminal window and enter the following commands to download and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
su -
cd ~
wget https://www.softmaker.net/down/softmaker-freeoffice-2024_1230-01_amd64.deb
apt update
apt install -f ./softmaker-freeoffice-2024_1230-01_amd64.deb
exit
When a service pack is released, you can install it in the same way.
Ubuntu, Linux Mint
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo -i
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -qO- https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/linux-repo-public.key | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
apt update
apt install softmaker-freeoffice-2024
exit
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
Open a shell or terminal window and enter the following commands to download and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo -i
cd ~
wget https://www.softmaker.net/down/softmaker-freeoffice-2024_1230-01_amd64.deb
apt update
apt install -f ./softmaker-freeoffice-2024_1230-01_amd64.deb
exit
When a service pack is released, you can install it in the same way.
Manjaro
SoftMaker FreeOffice is included in Manjaro's repository, thus making its installation particularly easy.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo pamac install freeoffice
The Manjaro package manager keeps SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
Fedora
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository and install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo wget -qO /etc/yum.repos.d/softmaker.repo https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/softmaker.repo
sudo -E dnf upgrade
sudo -E dnf install softmaker-freeoffice-2024
If Fedora prompts you to confirm the import of the SoftMaker GPG key, you should do so.
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, you can update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision by entering the following command:
sudo -E dnf upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
Our RPM installation packages are digitally signed. Before installing SoftMaker FreeOffice, you should download our public GPG key:
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter this command to import the GPG key:
sudo rpm --import ./linux-repo-public.key
Note: If you have not downloaded the GPG key to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the key file.
If you skip this step, you will still be able to install SoftMaker RPM packages, but you must press Ignore when you are informed of the missing GPG key.
Next, download the RPM installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice:
Install this package by double-clicking on it.
When a service pack is released, download the latest RPM installation package, and install it again with a double click.
openSUSE
Recommended: Installation via the SoftMaker repository
If you use the SoftMaker repository, you can easily install SoftMaker FreeOffice and keep it up to date.
Open a shell or terminal window, and enter these commands to set up the repository:
sudo zypper addrepo -f https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/rpm SoftMaker
sudo zypper --gpg-auto-import-keys ref
You must confirm these commands by entering your root password.
Then enter this command to install SoftMaker FreeOffice:
sudo -E zypper install softmaker-freeoffice-2024
If you have set up automatic updates on your system, your Linux package manager will keep SoftMaker FreeOffice up to date automatically.
If you do not use automatic updates on your system, entering these commands will update SoftMaker FreeOffice to the latest available revision:
– If you use zypper:
sudo -E zypper update
– If you use dnf:
sudo -E dnf upgrade
Alternative: Manual installation
Open a shell or terminal window and enter the following commands:
1. Download our public PGP key and import it:
cd ~
wget https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/linux-repo-public.key
sudo rpm --import ./linux-repo-public.key
2. Download the RPM installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice and install it:
cd ~
wget https://www.softmaker.net/down/softmaker-freeoffice-2024-1230.x86_64.rpm
sudo -E zypper install ./softmaker-freeoffice-2024-1230.x86_64.rpm
When a service pack is released, you can install it in the same way.
Installation on other systems
If your system is not listed here and you cannot run the installation by means of the above instructions, you can install SoftMaker FreeOffice using our .tgz-based installation package.
First, download the .tgz installation package of SoftMaker FreeOffice:
Unpack it:
tar xvzf ./softmaker-freeoffice-2024-1230-amd64.tgz
Note: If you have not downloaded the .tgz file to the current folder, replace ./ with the path to the .tgz file.
Then run the installation script contained in it:
./installfreeoffice
Restoring document icons
The icons for common document formats such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX are assigned to SoftMaker FreeOffice when you install it. If you do not like our icon style, you can easily restore the previous icons by running this script:
sudo /usr/share/freeoffice2024/mime/remove_icons.sh
Installing on a USB flash drive
If you want to have FreeOffice for Linux and important documents with you when on the go, you can copy FreeOffice to a USB flash drive. You can then insert this USB flash drive into any Linux-based computer (for example, those of friends or in Internet cafes) and run FreeOffice. Once you unplug the USB flash drive, no trace of FreeOffice remains on the PC.
Here's how it works:
- Install FreeOffice on the built-in hard drive of your Linux PC. This lets you work with FreeOffice as usual, even without a USB flash drive.
- Create a folder on the USB flash drive and copy the entire contents of the FreeOffice application folder (usually /usr/share/freeoffice2024) to this folder:
mkdir /media/disk/freeoffice (replace /media/disk with the path of the USB flash drive) cd /usr/share/freeoffice2024 cp -Rv * /media/disk/freeoffice (replace /media/disk with the path of the USB flash drive)
- Create a file with the name portable.txt in this new folder on the USB flash drive. Its content is irrelevant:
cd /media/disk/freeoffice (replace /media/disk with the USB flash drive's path) touch portable.txt
The portable.txt file is just a "marker file" that informs FreeOffice that it should run in portable mode and not leave any configuration files on the host operating system.
- Then, launch TextMaker:
./textmaker
TextMaker will create the folder /media/disk/freeoffice/SoftMaker and copy its default document templates and configuration files into it. This can take up to thirty seconds. After that, TextMaker will be launched.
The installation is complete now.
If you want, you can now copy additional documents and templates to the flash drive.
- Place documents in /media/disk/freeoffice/SoftMaker.
- Copy your TextMaker document templates to /media/disk/freeoffice/SoftMaker/TextMaker 2024 templates.
- Copy your PlanMaker document templates to /media/disk/freeoffice/SoftMaker/PlanMaker 2024 templates.
- Copy your Presentations design templates to /media/disk/freeoffice/SoftMaker/Presentations 2024 designs.
To launch one of the programs, open the FreeOffice folder on the USB flash drive and double-click on the program you want to launch.