Create your own Menu in Debian Linux

I’ve recently upgraded OpenOffice from 2.0 to 3.0 beta without going through the synaptic or apt-get. I was stubborn enough to download and install the files manually. And not suprisingly, the result was a decent applcaition but with no available menu entries in my applications.   I’m using debian etch with gnome running in a prehistoric Thinkpad R40e.

Just in case anyone encounters the same problem as I, i’ve prepared a basic guide to help you get out of the rutt.

1. Go to the installed location of OpenOffice. It’s usually set to install in /opt/OpenOffice*

   

2. Since all of the applications are installed in /opt you must place the full path to run them (i.e. /opt/openoffice… /swrite/). To avoid lengthy types, simply map the location to /usr/bin so that you can run the app from anywhere. Do the following:
   
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/swriter /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/scalc /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/simpress /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/sbase /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/soffice /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/smath /usr/bin/
   sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/sdraw /usr/bin/
   
3. Now that we know where the applications are, we now need to identify the location of the corresponding icons. type:locate ooo | grep pngThe command searches (locate) for all instaces of ‘ooo‘, a common prefix for OpenOffice 3.0 files, and then search for all png files within the results.



4. Open Alacarte to create menu entries. Go to the group ‘office‘ and then create a new entry
5. For every application entry, fill in the name, run command (from #2) and the corresponding icon (from #3)

That’s it, take a bow and enjoy OpenOffice 3.0!

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