Wiki - https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/LibreOfficeDictionaries Discussion thread - https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f45-change-proposal-libreoffice-dicti...
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: pnemade@redhat.com
== Detailed Description == The LibreOffice project maintains its own collection of hunspell dictionaries at `https://github.com/LibreOffice/dictionaries%60, 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.
Dne 13. 07. 26 v 18:05 Aoife Moloney via devel-announce napsal(a):
These dictionaries are maintained separately from the existing `hunspell-<lang>` packages in Fedora and in some cases provide more up-to-date word lists.
If the LO dictionaries are better, then why can't we use them instead of the hunspell and have just one version?
Vít
Il 14/07/26 13:46, Vít Ondruch ha scritto:
Dne 13. 07. 26 v 18:05 Aoife Moloney via devel-announce napsal(a):
These dictionaries are maintained separately from the existing `hunspell-<lang>` packages in Fedora and in some cases provide more up-to-date word lists.
If the LO dictionaries are better, then why can't we use them instead of the hunspell and have just one version?
Vít
I think most the hunspell-<lang> packages are already built from LO dictionaries sources. If I remember correctly, the change proposal was first discussed to have the "new" LO dictionaries bundle package to replace those several packages, but perhaps not every maintainer from those packages agreed.
So it seems right way to have the 'libreoffice-dictionaries' packaged and then let to the maintainers the choice to retire their package or not.
Mattia
Hi,
On Tue, Jul 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM Vít Ondruch vondruch@redhat.com wrote:
Dne 13. 07. 26 v 18:05 Aoife Moloney via devel-announce napsal(a):
These dictionaries are maintained separately from the existing `hunspell-<lang>` packages in Fedora and in some cases provide more up-to-date word lists.
If the LO dictionaries are better, then why can't we use them instead of the hunspell and have just one version?
There are some differences in dictionary contents for some languages between upstream LibreOffice Dictionaries and Fedora packages. I think it will be good to have upstream dictionaries tested well for this Fedora 45 release by end users before we make them default in langpacks in Fedora 46 release. We intend to have this testing done as part of our Fedora 45 i18n test week event. Also, note that only subset of Fedora hunspell dictionaries are available in upstream LibreOffice Dictionaries repository.
Regards, Parag
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Aoife Moloney via devel-announce -
Mattia Verga -
Parag Nemade -
Vít Ondruch