Getting NeoOffice 2.1 on CD?

johndilbeck · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:51 am Post subject: Getting NeoOffice 2.1 on CD?

I'm new to the party and I'm trying to get a copy of NeoOffice 2.1 on CD.

It would be great if it also included the latest patch as a separate file.

I would be happy to pay for shipping, cost of materials, etc. if someone could send me a CD (not a DVD). I'll also be happy to donate to NeoOffice.org.

I just want to play and there's no way I can download the whole distribution on my slow dial-up connection.

I've searched high and low and can't find a copy of NeoOffice 2.1 on CD in the USA.

Samwise pointed me to LinBoo.com for a CD, but their site is currently down.

Truthfully, I can't believe that none of the Mac user groups or magazines have jumped at the opportunity to provide this needed product.

I read another thread where only 25 people bought a copy on CD before the service was discontinued last year, so maybe I'm just being overly-optimistic.

What I need is a way to build PDF files with active hyperlinks and I can't do it with any of the programs available to me, and I will never pay Microsoft another dime, so it looks like NeoOffice is the only product that will do what I want. Pages will probably do it, but it'll have to wait until I can upgrade from this G3 iMac.

But, even more than that one issue, I really want access to all the things NeoOffice provides.

Any ideas?

All the best,

JD

pluby · The Architect Joined: Jun 16, 2003 Posts: 11949

While I can't help you get a CD, what I can suggest is to use the cURL tool to download NeoOffice incrementally when you don't need your limited bandwidth for other purposes.

cURL is bundled with Mac OS X so there is nothing to download to use it. More importantly, cURL allows you to resume downloading where previous download runs have ended so you can do things like running cURL while you are not using your computer and then stopping the download when you ned to use it.

The instructions for using cURL for NeoOffice are Using_curl_to_download_NeoOffice. Yeah, it will still be slow to download, but if it takes a week of intermittent downloads, that will still be faster than most CD resellers are going to get it to you.

Patrick

johndilbeck · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:58 am Post subject:

Patrick,

Thank you so much for telling me about cURL. I had never heard of it.

I copied the page from the wiki and I'll learn to use cURL.

My ISP closes the connection every six hours and I have several other apps I need to download, but knew it wouldn't be possible within that time frame.

It sounds like cURL is going to be a very popular tool for this old dinosaur.

I appreciate the suggestion.

All the best,

JD

OPENSTEP · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:31 pm Post subject:

There is also a small GUI frontend if it's a bit more suitable for you:

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/cURL-GUI.shtml

The ability of curl to resume downloads will really probably be a very helpful thing for you with any type of larger downloads on a slower connection Smile

I don't know if the GUI throws the proper flags to curl to resume downloads, but I suspect it may. It's just launching a terminal and then using "do shell script" Smile

ed

sardisson · Town Crier Joined: Feb 01, 2004 Posts: 4588

OPENSTEP · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:12 pm Post subject:

Ah well, bummer then. Yeah, Terminal is your friend then Smile

ed

sardisson · Town Crier Joined: Feb 01, 2004 Posts: 4588

It does now Wink

(Since lots of servers still don't support byte ranges, you couldn't have it on by default, so I understand why he didn't include it originally. Now I've got it as a toggle-able option.)

I'm going to finish cleaning up the cleanup I've done (I fixed one small existing bug, and added a bit of "validate this properly" stuff--AS Studio is kinda cool) and contact the author and see if he wants to take my stuff and do a new release or if I can do friendly fork or ....

Samwise · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:47 am Post subject:

FYI : the LinBoo website is back up. Looks like they're shipping worldwide BTW.

http://www.linboo.com/

The NeoOffice CD page can be accessed from the front page.

johndilbeck · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:53 am Post subject: Thank you

This is a friendly and helpful community and I look forward to being a part of it.

I want to thank the people who offered to burn a CD and send it to me. One very generous and helpful person has sent a CD my way. Thanks.

Thanks, also, to the others who offered.

If I'd been a bit more patient, I'd have been able to purchase it from LinBoo.com.

I still find it hard to believe that the Mac user groups and magazines haven't offered NeoOffice on their CDs, but it looks like LinBoo has stepped in and offers it for a very low price.

Thanks to everyone. I look forward to playing with NeoOffice in the next few days.

All the best,

JD

(I still haven't tried cURL, but I have several other things I need to download - in the 14 to 20 MB range - and it will come in very handy.)