Wiki - https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/LibreOfficeDictionaries
Discussion thread -
https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f45-change-proposal-libreoffice-dictionaries-self-contained/196620

This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.
This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes
process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive
community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved
by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.


== Summary ==
Add a new `libreoffice-dictionaries` source package in Fedora
providing hunspell spellcheck dictionaries sourced directly from the
LibreOffice upstream [https://github.com/LibreOffice/dictionaries
dictionaries] repository, packaged as individual per-language
subpackages named `libreoffice-dict-<lang>`.

== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:pnemade| Parag Nemade]]
* Email: [email protected]


== Detailed Description ==
The LibreOffice project maintains its own collection of hunspell
dictionaries at `https://github.com/LibreOffice/dictionaries`, updated
in sync with each LibreOffice release. These dictionaries are
maintained separately from the existing `hunspell-<lang>` packages in
Fedora and in some cases provide more up-to-date word lists.

This Change introduces the libreoffice-dictionaries source package,
which builds 71 binary subpackages covering over 66 languages. Each
subpackage:
* Installs `.aff and .dic` hunspell dictionary files into
`/usr/share/hunspell/`
* Declares `Conflicts: hunspell-<lang>` so it does not co-install with
the existing Fedora-maintained package for the same language
* Declares `Requires: hunspell-filesystem` for the directory ownership
dependency

Notable new additions compared to existing Fedora hunspell-* packages include:
* Bengali (libreoffice-dict-bn_BD)
* English regional variants split into five subpackages:
libreoffice-dict-en-AU, libreoffice-dict-en-CA,
libreoffice-dict-en-GB, libreoffice-dict-en-US, libreoffice-dict-en-ZA
* Aragonese (libreoffice-dict-an), Tibetan (libreoffice-dict-bo),
Bosnian (libreoffice-dict-bs), Central Kurdish (libreoffice-dict-ckb),
Guarani (libreoffice-dict-gug), Kurdish (libreoffice-dict-kmr), Lao
(libreoffice-dict-lo), Sanskrit (libreoffice-dict-sa)

The spec file uses embedded RPM Lua scripting to generate all
subpackage definitions programmatically from a single data table,
avoiding hundreds of lines of repetitive boilerplate.

== Feedback ==

== Benefit to Fedora ==
  * Users installing LibreOffice will have access to dictionaries that
are versioned and tested together with each LibreOffice release,
reducing spellcheck regressions caused by version skew between
LibreOffice and independently-packaged dictionaries.
  * Provides coverage for languages and regional locales not currently
available as standalone hunspell-* packages in Fedora.
  * The Conflicts: tagging ensures clean, unambiguous dictionary
ownership — users can choose between the Fedora-maintained
`hunspell-<lang>` or the LibreOffice-sourced
`libreoffice-dict-<lang>`, but not both simultaneously.

== Scope ==
* Proposal owners: Create and maintain the `libreoffice-dictionaries`
package in Fedora.

* Other developers: No changes required to existing `hunspell-*`
packages. The Conflicts: tag handles coexistence cleanly.

* Release engineering: New source package to be added to Fedora 45
dist-git. No mass rebuild required.

* Policies and guidelines: Package follows Fedora Packaging
Guidelines. Per-language SPDX licenses are declared on each
subpackage. Files in `/usr/share/hunspell/` are owned via the
hunspell-filesystem dependency.

* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

* Alignment with the Fedora Strategy:


== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
This is a new source package with no prior presence in Fedora. No
existing packages are modified. The Conflicts: relationship with
existing `hunspell-<lang>` packages is intentional and ensures that
users upgrading from a system with `hunspell-fr` (for example) will
not inadvertently end up with conflicting dictionary files if
`libreoffice-dict-fr` is installed.

== How To Test ==
1. Enable Copr repo on your system using command
     `dnf copr enable pnemade/libreoffice-dictionaries`
2. Install any subpackage, for example:
  `dnf install libreoffice-dict-fr libreoffice-dict-en-GB libreoffice-dict-de`
3. Verify the dictionary files are installed:
  `ls /usr/share/hunspell/fr_FR.* /usr/share/hunspell/en_GB.*
/usr/share/hunspell/de_DE.*`
4. Verify locale symlinks are present (e.g. for en-GB aliases):
  `ls -la /usr/share/hunspell/en_IE.* /usr/share/hunspell/en_IN.*
/usr/share/hunspell/en_NZ.*`
5. Confirm spellcheck works in LibreOffice Writer by setting the
document language to the installed locale.
6. Confirm that attempting to install both `hunspell-fr` and
`libreoffice-dict-fr` simultaneously results in a conflict reported by
dnf.

== User Experience ==


== Dependencies ==


== Contingency Plan ==

* Contingency mechanism: If the package is not ready, it is simply not
included in Fedora 45. No other packages depend on it yet.
* Contingency deadline: Final freeze for Fedora 45.
* Blocks release? No.

== Documentation ==
No documentation changes required.

== Release Notes ==
A new `libreoffice-dictionaries` package is available in Fedora 45,
providing hunspell spell check dictionaries sourced directly from the
LibreOffice upstream repository. Install individual language packages
such as libreoffice-dict-fr, libreoffice-dict-de or
libreoffice-dict-en-GB to enable spell checking for those languages in
LibreOffice and any other application using hunspell.


-- 
Aoife Moloney

Fedora Operations Architect

Fedora Project

Matrix: @amoloney:fedora.im

IRC: amoloney

-- 
_______________________________________________
devel-announce mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
Fedora Code of Conduct: 
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
List Archives: 
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]
Do not reply to spam, report it: 
https://forge.fedoraproject.org/infra/tickets/issues/new
-- 
_______________________________________________
devel mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
Fedora Code of Conduct: 
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
List Archives: 
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]
Do not reply to spam, report it: 
https://forge.fedoraproject.org/infra/tickets/issues/new

Reply via email to