Readme

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LibreOffice ReadMe
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For latest updates to this readme file, see http://www.libreoffice.org/welcome/readme.html

This file contains important information about the LibreOffice software. You are recommended to read this information very carefully before starting installation.

The LibreOffice community is responsible for the development of this product, and invites you to consider participating as a community member. If you are a new user, you can visit the LibreOffice site, where you will find lots of information about the LibreOffice project and the communities that exist around it. Go to http://www.libreoffice.org/.

Is LibreOffice Really Free for Any User?
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LibreOffice is free for use by everybody. You may take this copy of LibreOffice and install it on as many computers as you like, and use it for any purpose you like. If you intend to use LibreOffice in a business or large organisation, we strongly recommend sourcing LibreOffice-based products from partners in our ecosystem. In this way, you get additional long-term support options and other benefits, and help to financially support the long-term future of the software.

For further details, see the license text packaged with this LibreOffice download.

Why is LibreOffice Free for Any User?
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You can use this copy of LibreOffice free of charge because individual contributors and corporate sponsors have designed, developed, tested, translated, documented, supported, marketed, and helped in many other ways to make LibreOffice what it is today - the world's leading Open Source productivity software for home and office.

If you appreciate their efforts, and would like to ensure that LibreOffice continues to be available far into the future, please consider contributing to the project - see http://www.documentfoundation.org/contribution/ for details. Everyone can make a contribution of some kind.

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Notes on Installation
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LibreOffice requires a recent version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for full functionality. JRE is not part of the LibreOffice installation package, it should be installed separately. Please refer to the Installation Instructions.

System Requirements
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Please refer to the System Requirements page.

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Problems During Program Startup
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Difficulties starting LibreOffice (e.g. applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option "Use OpenGL for all rendering" under 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - Graphics Output'.

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Shortcut Keys
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Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in LibreOffice. If a key combination in LibreOffice does not work as described in the LibreOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in LibreOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the LibreOffice Help or the Help documentation of your operating system.

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File Locking
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File locking is enabled by default in LibreOffice. On a network that uses the Network File System protocol (NFS), the locking daemon for NFS clients must be active. To disable file locking, edit the soffice script and change the line "export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING" to "# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING". If you disable file locking, the write access of a document is not restricted to the user who first opens the document.

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Graphic Performance
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By default, LibreOffice favours nice-looking graphics over speed. If you experience slow graphics, switching off 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - Use anti-aliasing' may help.

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Important Accessibility Notes
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For more information on the accessibility features in LibreOffice, see the accessibility page

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User Support
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The main support page offers various possibilities for help with LibreOffice. Your question may have already been answered - check the Archive in the Forum-Interface or search the archives of the 'users@global.libreoffice.org' mailing list at http://www.libreoffice.org/lists/users/. Alternatively, you can send in your questions to users@global.libreoffice.org. If you like to subscribe to the list (to get email responses), send an empty mail to: users+subscribe@global.libreoffice.org.

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Reporting Bugs & Issues
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Our system for reporting, tracking and solving bugs is currently BugZilla, kindly hosted at https://bugs.libreoffice.org/. We encourage all users to feel entitled and welcome to report bugs that may arise on your particular platform. Energetic reporting of bugs is one of the most important contributions that the user community can make to the ongoing development and improvement of LibreOffice.

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Getting Involved
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The LibreOffice Community would very much benefit from your active participation in the development of this important open source project.

As a user, you are already a valuable part of the suite's development process and we would like to encourage you to take an even more active role with a view to being a long-term contributor to the community. Please join and check out the contributing page at http://www.libreoffice.org/contribution/

How to Start
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The best way to start contributing is to subscribe to one or more of the mailing lists, lurk for a while, and gradually use the mail archives to familiarize yourself with many of the topics covered since the LibreOffice source code was released back in October 2000. When you're comfortable, all you need to do is send an email self-introduction and jump right in. If you are familiar with Open Source Projects, check out our To-Dos list and see if there is anything you would like to help with at http://www.libreoffice.org/develop/.

Subscribe
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Here are a few of the mailing lists to which you can subscribe at http://www.libreoffice.org/contribution/

* News: announce@documentfoundation.org *recommended to all users* (light traffic)
* Main user list: users@global.libreoffice.org *easy way to lurk on discussions* (heavy traffic)
* Marketing project: marketing@global.libreoffice.org *beyond development* (getting heavy)
* General developer list: libreoffice@lists.freedesktop.org (heavy traffic)

Joining one or more Projects
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You can make major contributions to this important open source project even if you have limited software design or coding experience. Yes, you!

We hope you enjoy working with the new LibreOffice and will join us online.

The LibreOffice Community

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Used / Modified Source Code
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Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.