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  • Author Author: phoenixcomm
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Why in the world does .ppt files exist

phoenixcomm

This may sound harsh, but coming from the Linux world, to put it bluntly, they are just a pain in my tush! So every time I open a ppt slideshow with imageLibreOffice, and then it is in an editable mode, and that is no good. But then I can "Export" it as a pdf file. (PIMA) but by rooting around on the Internet today I found I can run LibreOffice in a headless mode.

 

libreoffice --headless --invisible --convert-to pdf  .pdfimage

 

So I can now put it together in a little shell script and save it to my Desktop:

 

#! /bin/bash

echo "This is a PowerPoint (ppt) to (pdf)"

echo "looking for the form of  *123.ppt  not *.ppt"

echo "Enter Filename:  "

read filename

echo $filename

libreoffice --headless --invisible --convert-to pdf  $filename

/usr/local/bin/libreoffice --headless --invisible --convert-to pdf  $filename

 

You will now have to make it executable.  You can do this two ways:

  1. Find the ppt-2-pdf.sh and right-click on it and open the property's dialog and make it executable.
  2. If you are in your shell you can chmod it.  $chmod +x ppt-2-pdf.sh  The +x made it executable.

Now here it is in action:

 

harrison@Whirlwind /mnt/MyData/home/harrison/school/Design News $ ../../Desktop/ppt-2-pdf.sh

This is a Power Point (ppt) to (pdf)

looking for the form of  *123.ppt  not *.ppt

Enter Filename:

*1.ppt

DN-CEC-Mastering-the-Embedded-Design-Cycle-Day1.ppt

convert /mnt/MyData/home/harrison/school/Design News/DN-CEC-Mastering-the-Embedded-Design-Cycle-Day1.ppt -> /mnt/MyData/home/harrison/school/Design News/DN-CEC-Mastering-the-Embedded-Design-Cycle-Day1.pdf using filter : impress_pdf_Export

Overwriting: /mnt/MyData/home/harrison/school/Design News/DN-CEC-Mastering-the-Embedded-Design-Cycle-Day1.pdf

 

 

Keep Tuned in, More to Come

image Cris ~

 

UPDATE 9JUN2k16:

I have a /usr/local/scripts file  and that's where I put it. but it didn't work image

I had to change the last line
FROM: libreoffice --headless --invisible --convert-to pdf  $file

TO: /usr/local/bin/libreoffice --headless --invisible --convert-to pdf    $filenameimage

  • in reply to phoenixcomm

    True, but they did bring a semblance of order out of the early PC chaos.

     

    Remember, most of the users just wanted to do their jobs as simply as they could.

     

    Microsoft gave them the tools and interoperability to let them combine text, graphics, charts and pictures with a minimum amount of problems.

     

    Yes, the software was not pretty and as Steve Jobs once commented, the software was mediocre, but for most people it worked and still works today.

     

    Yes Microsoft had a very predatory business model and aggressively attacked the competition, but then all companies have the same basic attitude if they can get away with it.

     

    So if you want to hate MS, that is fine, but you should agree that they established the format for a set of integrated products that supports a lot of people, even after forty years.

     

    As for documentation, there are very few companies that provides great documentation for everyone.

    Microsoft did a fair job given that each tool and application had its own language to describe the capabilities.

    You just cannot take some of those ways of doing business and make them clear to people who have no background in that industry.

     

    Some of these tools take a lot of time to learn and apply with skill.  One set of documents cannot do that no matter how much effort you put into it.

     

    Just my perspective.

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Yes, that's true but let us see, I can't remember who Sun Microsystems bought StarOffice(1985) from (it was some german group), which begat Sun Office(2000),image

    which begat Open Office which begat Open Libre. So lets see in the past 16 years Sun Office, et al has had one standard format to save you work in, .odt.

    Meanwhile, back in MS land they were still trying to figure stuff out (and still can't). MS finally adopted the .odt file (2007 but could not get it right 2013). 

    That is after they tried to KILL IT. Sounds like JAVA all over again.

    Micro$oft rules of Software Development.

    1. STEAL IT!
    2. BRAKE MS VERSIONS
    3. Offer crappier stuff and say it is better ie C# vs JAVA
    4. Pay Large Lawsuit Awards
    5. Pay for it if the must. 
    6. (opt) When releasing software make sure it has bugs in it so they can sell you an upgrade Windose 7 (ok, better by far), 8 (crap), and whoops, I think we missed one, now 10.. Will their bullS!! versions ever stop. 
    7. (opt) supply the customer with as little documentation as possible, and of course, make sure there are errors in it as well.

  • At the time that Microsoft came up with Powerpoint, there was a need for a simpler drawing tool than PC Paint to make presentations.

    The PPT format was a way to save those files for exchange.

     

    At the time, there was no inexpensive way for a PC to make PDF files, so MS was just filling a need for people who had no idea or no access to Linux systems with better tools.

     

    Today, Adobe has realized that making PDF easier to use and less expensive makes the PPT and powerpoint files less attractive, but they are still part of the Office Package and is still widely used by the plethora of windows users world wide.

     

    Powerpoint is functional, even I have made many presentations, even though I am graphically challenged!

     

    Plus, Powerpoint if fully integrated with MS Office programs, which at the time was reasonably complete for most small business to function.

     

    DAB

  • In the Microsoft windoze world these would make sense. But that was before PDF's caught on. I still have problems with PDF files too. Wish an open source version like PNG files existed.

    Clem