To install LibreOffice Base, use Ubuntu Software Center. It works without problems. (If Ubuntu Software Center isn't installed, use Synaptic or Muon to get it.)
I followed a thread on Ubuntu forums to solve this problem. There seems to be a line missing from this maintenance script file:
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libreoffice-base.postrm
The missing line,
/usr/lib/libreoffice/share/basic/script.xlc
needs to be added to the end of the file's second if statement, just above the closing fi, like so:
--divert /usr/lib/libreoffice/share/basic/script.xlc.noaccess \
/usr/lib/libreoffice/share/basic/script.xlc
fi
After adding the line, using (for example):
sudo nano /var/lib/dpkg/info/libreoffice-base.postrm
restart your computer and remove libreoffice-base with the following command:
sudo apt-get purge libreoffice-base libreoffice-report-builder-bin libreoffice
Once this process completes, restart and execute the following to reinstall libreoffice:
sudo apt-get install libreoffice-base libreoffice
Once libreoffice had been successfully reinstalled, I ran:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
without error.
This handful of steps and with additional reference to a bug report solved my problem.
Best Answer
For those of you who haven't resorted to the PPA and just want to install the missing pieces, Open Software Center, type libreoffice in the search box and select the missing components and install them. In my case, base is the only one I don't have installed. Example below:
If you've already unnecessarily installed the PPA you can revert to the distribution version vis the use of
ppa-purgeFor further details in it's use please see the man page with the command
man ppa-purge