Where the Hey Did My Okular Go?

 I cannot survive (well, at least, I cannot do what I want and need to do) without Okular, the neat little pdf reader and more. So, I was quite distressed when I tried to launch it this morning and not only did it not launch, my Favorites icon was gone. I searched the (pretty much worthless) Ubuntu and linux forums seven ways from sundown, but was unable to find a solution. However, in all my searching, head-scratching and trying different things from the command line, I finally determined this.

(Bear in mind, too, that after I install a program and use it for a year or so, I don't recall whether I installed it from Ubuntu Software, Gnome Software, Snapd or Flatpak.)

First, I determined that there is no "native" Okular package in Ubuntu software. The program available in Ubuntu Software is a snapd package. So I went to the Terminal and entered: snap list and sure enough there were two Snap versions of Okular installed.  So I opened a terminal and tried to run Okular from the terminal and if did not work. Next I tried various uninstall, reinstall, refresh suggestions from the utterly useless forums, including one promising instruction to install KDE frameworks then re-install Okular, which seemed to work for one person in a forum (a slow and tedious download and install). Still, though, Okular would not launch. 

Next, and no thanks to any forums, I had an epiphany and decided that if I could not get it to work by using the Snap.io or Ubuntu Software versions, maybe I could get it to work by using Gnome Software and/or Flatpakhub.com. I went back into the Terminal and removed the snapd version using:

sudo snap remove okular --purge

then I launched Gnome Software and searched for Okular. Sure enough, I found the Okular package on Gnome Software. I installed it, and it worked like a charm.

I still don't know what happened to cause Okular to stop working in the first place, but I suspect that maybe I installed it first as a Snap package, then (for some reason) later installed it as a Flatpak package and there was some sort of conflict. Anyhow, it's working now.

SHORT VERSION:

  1. Uninstalled snapd version of Okular: sudo remove okular --purge.
  2. Installed Flatpak version of Okular. 
    1. Go to https://flatpak.org/setup/ and set up Flatpak for your linux OS.
    2. On your computer (Ubuntu) launch "Show Applications") and search for "Software."
    3. Select "Gnome Software," NOT "Ubuntu Software." 
    4. Search Gnome Software for "okular" and install the package. 

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