PDFsam for Linux

Tutorials & Guides
1

I write things. Scientific things. Sometimes I send those writings to people, in PDF format. Sometimes I have to curate the length or layout of the file.

I just learned that the same software I used for manipulating PDF files under Windows also has a .deb package version for Linux! And it's the same exact program... same layout, same look and feel, same functionality, same everything.

So essentially, I'm now using all the same software I used under Windows (except for the molecular modeling software... still looking for a good replacement to that)... LibreOffice as office suite, SRWare Iron as browser, PDFsam for PDF manipulation, FoxIt Reader for reading, annotating, signing PDF files... why would anyone use Windows nowadays?

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2

Do you use anything for LaTex?

3

I used LibreLaTeX and TeXmath under Windows, but I'm having troubles getting any extensions installed on LibreOffice under Linux... I'll hack away at it until I figure it out.

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4

This has been an ongoing struggle for me. I have been using an Online Service all this time.
The libre--- It just doesn't work for me well.

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5

Whoa! I just got TeXmath to install!

First, LibreLaTeX isn't going to work... it has to be a .otx file extension, and LibreLaTeX is the older .ott file extension. I was hacking away at LibreLaTeX, and TeXmath just installed no problem.

Download the file, double-click the file from the drop-down "Downloads" list in your browser... LibreOffice pops up and installs it.

You can also download the file to your desktop, then in Terminal:
sudo /usr/lib/libreoffice/program/unopkg add --shared -s -f /home/$USER/Desktop/YOUR EXTENSION.otx

Here I was hacking away at the command line, trying a thousand and one permutations, and that's all it took... getting an extension with the correct three-letter extension. LOL

After you get the TeXmath LibreOffice extension installed:
sudo apt install texlive dvipng

Then in LibreOffice, open the TeXmaths System Configuration dialog box, and under "LaTeX (mandatory)", put the path /usr/bin/latex, and under "dvipng (optional)", put the path /usr/bin/dvipng.

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6

What I'm missing as an Author when I writes is a spell checker that is as good as Office365. I haven't seen an alternative yet. Though WPS office mimic Office365 the language support is horrible unless you speak top 6 language of the world.

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I'm working on exactly that right now. Just installed Angry Reviewer, now to find a good spell-checker.

[EDIT]
I'm going with Scribens English (and French) spelling and grammar checker.

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8

Just open Synaptic Package Manager and enter "molecular" in the search window. There is a host of stuff in there.

9

You could always use Wordweb online:

https://www.wordwebonline.com/

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Lots of useful maths (UK spelling!) links here:

https://alternativeto.net/software/mathtype/?platform=linux

11

ghemical looks pretty good, it's based upon OpenBabel, and it's made for Gnome.