qole,

Well, I decided to give ubuntu one more try (warts and all). It turns
out that it comes with OO3.1. I do not know why I got OO2.4 with the previous try (see #967). Perhaps something related to my previous downgrade to get the equation editor to work with the debian version and then not uninstalling properly. Anyways, I then tried

aptitude -t lenny-backports install openoffice.org

as you suggested and instead of downgrading the version stayed the same and the equation editor worked! I was surprised with this result because I was using a debian repository.
I guess because ubuntu is built on debian it worked. Hopefully
this will give some clues as to why the install on debian does not work or downgrades.

In regards to performance, the start-up of OO takes longer on ubuntu, about 20 seconds longer then debian, but it seems to work ok once past that stage.


Rebhana,

In regards to starting a new thread concerning "Speculations about a possible release date for a new Easy Debian image with OO 3.2"
I think I'll pass. But I might add that I was able to download and install OO3.2 with no hitches on my IMAC. Perhaps a conspiracy theorist could pick up on that. Personally I'm afraid to...