How To Install Calligra On Linux: A Guide On Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, Arch Linux, etc.

If you have ever wanted an alternative to popular Linux office suites such as LibreOffice or Microsoft Office, then you can always go with Calligra. It is an office and graphic art suite offered by KDE that works on desktops, tablets, and even smartphones. It is a free, open-source software application that offers word processing, spreadsheets, making presentations, editing databases, and much more. Like other popular office suites, Calligra also offers a ton of features, from editing document files to adding images and other media to your work.

Since it is an open-source application, you can use it without any initial cost, be it for personal or professional use. It is due to this that the application suite has gained much popularity over the years and has emerged as a worthy challenger to legacy office applications. The software suite is available for almost every operating system, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can easily install it on multiple Linux distributions by simply following the steps we have mentioned in the guide below.

Table Of Contents

What Is Calligra?

Calligra is simply next in a long list of office suites that are not only open-source, but also work for free. Initially, known as KOffice, Calligra offers a set of applications for most office work, from document editors to spreadsheets and databases. It is a free, open-source office suite for Linux that is more than two decades old. But, is Calligra worth it?

Features Of Calligra

As an all-encompassing office suite, there are a ton of features that Calligra offers. These features are as follows:

• Open-source and free: It is totally free to use as it is open-source software. 
• Document editing: You can use it to create, manage, and edit Word documents.
• Vector objects: It supports the use of vector images within documents. 
• Data visualization: The suite supports charts, graphs, and other tools that make data visualization a possibility. 
• Native Support for Popular formats: You can use it to read, write, and edit popular Office formats like .doc, .xls, and so on.

Calligra Dependencies

Before installing Calligra on your system, you need to ensure that you have all the necessary dependencies installed. There are a few must-have dependencies along with some optional ones. These are:

• Qt 5.3.0 or newer
• KDE Frameworks version 5.7.0 or newer. 
• Boost
• lcms 2.4 or newer
• libeigen 3.0

Install Calligra On Linux

Here are the methods that you can use to install Calligra on Linux:

Method 1. Compile Calligra On Linux From Source

Before using this method, do note that it is meant as a high-level guide that is suitable for advanced users. If you are a beginner, then we recommend using method 2 onwards. Having said that, do know that running Calligra after compiling it from source does allow for a high level of customization. Users will be allowed to not only learn in detail about Qt, KDE, and other frameworks but also be able to make changes. 

But first, try to avoid having any conflicting copies of the same configuration files or Calligra. If you have installed Calligra previously, be it an older version or not, do uninstall it.

Note: Do not run Calligra as root or by using the sudo command.

Step 1. First, prepare a directory structure to contain the Calligra build.

Note: The build directory for Calligra must be separate from the source directory. 

mkdir -p $HOME/kde/build/calligra
mkdir -p $HOME/kde/inst5
mkdir -p $HOME/kde/src

Step 2. Now add the following text to your ~/.gitconfig for easier access to KDE

[url "https://anongit.kde.org/"]
    insteadOf = kde:
[url "ssh://[email protected]/"]
    pushInsteadOf = kde:

Step 3. Then, navigate to your build directory and pull the repository by executing:

cd $HOME/kde/src/
 git clone kde:calligra

Step 4. Install the necessary build requirements:

For Debian, Ubuntu, and Kubuntu

sudo apt-get build-dep kdelibs5

Also, install the Plasma desktop environment, i.e. the Breeze icon set:

sudo apt-get install breeze-icon-theme

For Linux Mint

You will have to activate the software sources repositories manually. 

1. First, Search for ‘Software Sources’ in your menu, then open it.
2. Then, on the tab, ‘Linux Mint Software,’ check to activate ‘Source code’.
3. On the tab ‘Other Software’ check to activate Ubuntu **.** <name> (source code) then close the windows to finish.

On OpenSUSE

zypper si -d calligra

On Fedora

yum-builddep calligra
yum install gcc gcc-c++

For Arch Linux and Manjaro

pacman -Syu
 pacman -S base-devel
 pacman -S cmake automoc4 boost kdepimlibs eigen2 kdeedu-marble lcms2 libmariadbclient freetds xbase libwpg opencolorio libwps gsl glew fftw poppler-qt libkdcraw libodfgen openjpeg kdegraphics-okular pstoedit vc libvisio libetonyek libpqxx libspnav

For Chakra

sudo pacman -S kdelibs kdepimlibs eigen freetds kdegraphics-okular kdeedu-marble xbase libgsf libwpd libwpg libwps libvisio pstoedit glew gsl cmake automoc4 libspnav libqtgtl boost libkdcraw libpqxx fftw opengtl docbook-xsl create-resources lcms2 qrencode libdmtx</pre>

And For Mageia

urpmi task-c++-devel git li64boost-static-devel && urpmi --buildrequires http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/mageia/distrib/cauldron/SRPMS/core/release/calligra-2.8.5-1.mga5.src.rpm </pre>

Step 5. Now, build Calligra

cd $HOME/kde/build/calligra

Or, you can use cmake:

cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/kde/inst5 $HOME/kde/src/calligra \
      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo

Step 6. Finally, set the environment variables

export XDG_DATA_DIRS=$HOME/kde/inst5/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=$HOME/kde/inst5/etc/xdg:$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
export PATH=$HOME/kde/inst5/bin:$PATH
export QT_PLUGIN_PATH=$HOME/kde/inst5/lib64/plugins:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/plugins:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/plugins:$QT_PLUGIN_PATH
export QML_IMPORT_PATH=$HOME/kde/inst5/lib64/qml:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/qml:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qml
export QML2_IMPORT_PATH=$HOME/kde/inst5/lib64/qml:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/qml:$HOME/kde/inst5/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qml
export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/kde/Settings
export KDETMP=/tmp/kdedev-$USER
export KDEVARTMP=/var/tmp/kdedev-$USER
export KDESYCOCA=$KDEVARTMP/ksycoca

Method 2. Install Calligra On Linux From Native Repositories

On Ubuntu/Debian

Step 1. First, update the APT repo:

sudo apt update

Step 2. Then install Calligra:

sudo apt install calligra

Step 3. Finally, install Calligra components:

sudo apt install calligra-flow calligra-kexi calligra-plan calligra-sheets calligra-stage calligra-words

For Fedora

Step 1. Again, start by updating the package:

sudo dnf update

Step 2. Then, install Calligra

sudo dnf install calligra

Step 3. Install the components

sudo dnf install calligra-flow calligra-kexi calligra-plan calligra-sheets calligra-stage calligra-words

On Arch Linux

Step 1. Install Calligra after updating the package:

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S calligra

Or, 

Step 1. Install an AUR helper:

sudo pacman -S yay

Step 2. Use the helper to install Calligra

yay -S calligra-git

On OpenSUSE

sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install calligra

For Gentoo

sudo emerge --sync
sudo emerge app-office/calligra

Method 3. Use Flatpak To Install Calligra On Linux

Step 1. Start by installing Flatpak:

sudo apt install flatpak

Step 2. Now, add the Flathub repository:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Step 3. Restart your system.

Step 4. Finally, run the command to install Calligra:

flatpak install flathub org.calligra.Calligra

Method 4. Install Calligra On Linux Via Snap

Snap is a package management system that allows software to be packaged in a containerized form, making it easy to install and run across different Linux distributions. Snaps are self-contained and include all dependencies.

Step 1. Start by installing Snap:

On Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install snapd

On Fedora

sudo dnf install snapd
sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

For Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S snapd
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket
sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

For OpenSUSE:

sudo zypper install snapd
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd

On Gentoo

sudo emerge --ask app-emulation/snapd
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd
sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

Step 2. Now, install Calligra using Snap:

sudo snap install calligra

Method 5. Using AppImage To Install Calligra

Step 1. First, get the Calligra AppImage:

wget https://example.com/path/to/calligra.AppImage

Step 2. Then, make the AppImage executable:

chmod +x calligra.AppImage

Step 3. Run the AppImage:

./calligra.AppImage

Method 6. Install Calligra On Linux Using PPAs

Some Linux distributions allow you to add third-party repositories or PPAs (Personal Package Archives) to install software. This is common for obtaining the latest versions of software that may not be available in the official repositories.

On Ubuntu/Debian

Step 1. Add the PPA repo:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

Step 2. Update the repository:

sudo apt update

Step 3. Install Calligra

sudo apt install calligra

On OpenSUSE

Step 1. Use the Open Build Service to add a repo:

sudo zypper ar -f https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Extra/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/ kde-extra

Step 2. Then, install Calligra

sudo zypper ref
sudo zypper install calligra