Upgrade open office from 2.4 to 3.0

First, remove your existing version of OpenOffice.org:

sudo apt-get remove openoffice*.*

Next, download a copy of OpenOffice.org 3.0 (OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz worked for us) and extract the download:

tar -zxvf OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

That will create a directory called something like OOO300_m15_native_packed-1_en-US.9379.

Switch into the DEBS directory in that directory:

cd OOO300_m15_native_packed-1_en-US.9379/DEBS/

Now all you need to do is install all of those .deb packages:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

That will do the trick. Once you’ve given your password your system should install all of the required files.

With that done you should have just one thing left to do: Install the desktop integration package. That should be in the DEBS folder:

cd desktop-integration

From that folder install the package:

sudo dpkg -i openoffice.org3.0-debian-menus_3.0-9354_all.deb

If everything works out you should be able to open OpenOffice.org 3.0 from the Applications menu on your desktop.