Installing Adobe Reader in Linux Lite - When Nothing Else Will Do!

[N4RPS]

Hello, All!

I recently had to fill out some online fillable PDF forms, totalling almost twenty pages worth. (Back in the day, I didn't fill out NEARLY that many pages to get one of the highest US security clearances available, so go figure!)

I tried Evince, but it doesn't seem to handle fillable forms at this time. The folks at Evince are working on it, but until they figure it all out, it seems as if there are instances (usually government forms) when nothing else but Adobe Reader will do.

Fortunately, as of this date, Adobe Reader is still in the Ubuntu repositories.  In a terminal window [CTRL-ALT-T],

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner"
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install acroread

If it's removed from the repositories at some later date, for now, it can also be found here. Again, in a terminal window:

Code:

cd ~/Downloads && wget http://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/9.x/9.5./en/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb
sudo gdebi AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb

This will download the .deb into the '~/Downloads' folder. From there, the terminal will ask for confirmation, and will then install it if you answer 'y'.

Hope this helps...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[LL-user]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for sharing the source.

When I learnt about Adobe pulling support for Linux I did some research to find a replacement, also in regard to filling in PDF forms. I've settled with these ones, both in the repos:

Okular
I know, it needs some kde libraries. But it's worth it.
https://okular.kde.org/
https://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdegraphi...ction.html

Xournal
http://xournal.sourceforge.net/manual.html

You might wanna have a look

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Thank you for your reply; I appreciate it. However, Okular and its required KDE components combine to eat right around 500 MB of disk space. Adobe Reader takes 187 MB of space, so this is something to also be aware of, if space on your setup is at a premium.

Based on its description, Okular offers a lot of added functionalities I will never need. Although I would strongly consider installing kdelibs if there were enough really great K utilities out there to justify it, at this time, I would only consider it if I absolutely had no other alternative.

As for Xournal, that is another matter altogether. So far, it works well in conjunction with the touchscreen here, is VERY lightweight (< 400 KB), and looks like it will turn just about any PDF into a fillable form...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[torreydale]

Have either of you tried running Adobe Reader using Wine?

[paul1149]

I'm using PDF-XChange viewer, which has markup ability, under WINE and it seems to be fine. Very fast - virtually as fast as the stripped down Sumatra. Haven't actually tried any markup yet though.

[newtusmaximus]

  Paul 119,  Shows I must be getting second childhood.  I read that as KamaSutra .  Oh well  new spectacle needed.  Off topic I know!

[paul1149]

Sumatra is a superb lightweight, surprisingly well featured. But PDF-xchange is almost as fast, and very well featured, including annotations. I did  a couple of uninstalls of Adobe Reader this week, and saw that the installs ran just shy of half a Gig. I suspect it's actually the full Acrobat, hamstrung. Was glad to get it off the machines.

Blessings.

[torreydale]

For future reference:  https://www.linux.com/news/software/appl...r-on-linux

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Wine and the newest version of Adobe Reader would be somewhat larger (and slower) than the Linux version.
I wouldn't run the Windows version of it under Wine unless there was something in the later version that I needed that isn't available in Adobe Reader for Linux...

[gold_finger]

Another alternative to using Adobe = Master PDF Editor.