Changing the default word processor in Xubuntu 12.10

Writer is the word-processing application in the LibreOffice productivity suite. AbiWord is the default word processor in Xubuntu 12.10. This document explains how to set LibreOffice Writer as the default word processor on your Xubuntu PC. You need to install LibreOffice, and then uninstall AbiWord.

Installing LibreOffice

To install LibreOffice on your Xubuntu PC, do the following:

1 - Click Applications Menu (white mouse, upper left), and then click Ubuntu Software Center to open it.

2 - Type libreoffice into the search field to display icons for all available LibreOffice items, including its entire office-productivity suite.

3 - Select the LibreOffice (productivity suite) icon, and then click Install.

4 - Type your password, click Authenticate and then wait for the installation to finish.

5 - Close the Ubuntu Software Center window.

Note: For more information, see:

* - Installing LibreOffice on Xubuntu

* - Disabling word-processor automatic corrections

Uninstalling AbiWord

Normally, as shown in Figure 1, you can set Writer as default by right-clicking any odt (open document text) file, clicking Properties and then selecting LibreOffice Writer in the Open With field. However, this is not currently working in Xubuntu 12.10; you cannot directly reset any application as default. Therefore, to set LibreOffice Writer as your default word processor, you need to uninstall AbiWord.

Figure 1 - Currently, directly setting the default does not work.

Note: After you uninstall Abiword, you can use LibreOffice Writer to edit any document you have created through Abiword.

To uninstall AbiWord, do the following:

1 - Click Applications Menu (white mouse), and then click Ubuntu Software Center to open it.

2 - Type abiword into the search field to display the AbiWord icon as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Removing (uninstalling) AbiWord.

3 - Select AbiWord, click Remove, and then click Remove All.

4 - Type your password, click Authenticate and then wait for the removal to finish.

5 - Close the Ubuntu Software Center window.