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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<article>
<artheader>
<title>WordPerfect on Linux FAQ</title>
<titleabbrev>WPLinux-FAQ</titleabbrev>
<author>
<firstname>Rick</firstname>
<surname>Moen</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>rick@linuxmafia.com</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>
<pubdate>1.3, 2002-08-07</pubdate>
<copyright>
<year>2002</year>
<holder>Rick Moen</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
<para>This information is free; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
by the Free Software Foundation, version 2.</para>
<para>This work is distributed in the hope that it will be
useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.</para>
<para>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
License along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.</para>
</legalnotice>
<abstract><title>Abstract</title>
<para>WordPerfect for Linux continues to be popular, and is still conditionally available. This FAQ covers its place in the modern Linux world, and answers common questions.</para>
</abstract>
</artheader>
<sect1 id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
<sect2 id="natureoffaq"><title>Nature of the FAQ.</title>
<para>This FAQ addresses common questions about Linux i386-binary releases of the discontinued but enduringly popular, proprietary WordPerfect word processor.</para>
<para>Some FAQs aim to present only impartial fact. Others summarise diverse answers typically given by members of the sponsoring community. This FAQ does neither: It's one author's attempt to paint a coherent picture of WordPerfect for Linux's place in the 21st Century open-source world, from a Linux-centric perspective. Some others' views will undoubtedly differ.</para>
<para>I'd like to gratefully acknowledge the HOWTO documents at <ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html">http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html</ulink>, which should be consulted for detailed installation instructions for WP on current Linux distributions. Also, the <ulink url="news://news.astcomm.net/linux.astcomm.net">news://news.astcomm.net/linux.astcomm.net</ulink> and <ulink url="news://cnews.corel.com/corel.wpoffice.wordperfect8-linux">news://cnews.corel.com/corel.wpoffice.wordperfect8-linux</ulink> newsgroups' comments have been invaluable.</para>
<para>I would also like to thank Leon A. Goldstein and Valentijn Sessink specifically for their valuable feedback.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="bigpicture"><title>The Big Picture.</title>
<sect3 id="whatsgood"><title>What's good about WordPerfect?</title>
<para>Several things. In an era when leading word processors gobble dozens of megs of RAM just launching, WP (v. 8.x) is thrifty -- about 6 MB. By comparison, OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 or Star Office 6.0 takes 73 MB to launch. (On the other hand, AbiWord 1.02 also uses only 6 MB, and KWord 1.1.1 a moderate 17 MB.) It's a stable, fast, polished, full-featured product. It has "reveal codes". It has a nearly unique "shrink to fit" printing feature that quickly becomes indispensible once you've experienced it. WP's print module uses the MS-DOS version's time-tested, robust printer drivers by default, expanding greatly the range of compatible printers. (WP can alternatively hand off to standard Unix printing subsystems -- lpr/lprng/gnulpr/cups/pdq/etc. -- in "Passthru Postscript" mode.) It has excellent built-in mathematical, financial, logical, and string-handling functions. It has excellent table support and a useful speed-table-formatting feature. It has a robust built-in database engine for table sorting and searching.</para>
<para>It's still the best tool available on Linux for reading WordPerfect .wpd files created elsewhere. (Star Office, AbiWord, and wp2latex also qualify.)</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="whatswrong"><title>What's wrong with WordPerfect?</title>
<para>It's a discontinued product (on Linux). The most-long-term-available version, WP 8.0 Download Personal Edition (WP 8.0 DPE), has deliberately crippled font handling and limited multilanguage support, and won't function without fairly antique support libraries. The best version, WP 8.1 Personal Edition, comes only bundled with the Corel Linux OS (CLOS) Deluxe Edition boxed set, v. 1.0 or 1.2 -- likewise discontinued.</para>
<para>WP used to be the best tool on Linux for reading MS-Word files, but always faltered on some, especially those Fast Saved in MS-Word. But now, Star Office, OpenOffice.org, and AbiWord reportedly do better.</para>
<para>All 8.x versions ship with a broken MS-Word import/export module: This third-party code ("Filtrix") fails with the message "Filtrix unable to convert this file" if the local system clock is set to later than September 9, 2001, because an internal time counter overflowed when Linux system time in seconds since January 1, 1970 passed 10^9 seconds. The problem can be fixed using a wrapper by Valentijn Sessink of the Netherlands firm Open Office, <ulink url="http://www.openoffice.nl/">http://www.openoffice.nl/</ulink> (not to be confused with Sun Microsystems's OpenOffice.org project), available at <ulink url="http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/">http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/</ulink>.</para>
<para>Last, though the point may be obvious, WP is proprietary (not open source). Open-source projects die only when nobody cares to maintain them, can be fixed/improved by any motivated party, and can be easily implemented on newer CPU architectures (IA64, PPC). By contrast, supplies of all but one WP versions are vanishing, the sole exception occupies a legal grey area, and the difficulty of keeping it running on evolving Linux systems (which can be i386 only) can only increase over time.</para>
<para>It's a measure of just how good WP for Linux is/was that many people consider it still the best word processor for Linux, despite the above.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="whocreated"><title>Who created WordPerfect for Linux?</title>
<para>Old-timers may recall that WordPerfect originally emerged from Software Development Corporation (SD Corp) of Orem, Utah, which later renamed itself to WordPerfect Corporation. That firm eventually sold WordPerfect's codebase to Corel Corporation Limited of Ottawa, Canada. Corel then hired the other firm (renamed back to SD Corp) to port WP versions 6, 7, 8.0, and 8.1 to both Linux and several proprietary Unix platforms.</para>
<para>The latest and seemingly final WP version for Linux was v. 9, better known as WordPerfect Office 2000 (which was technically WordPerfect joined at the hip to several other Corel programs -- Quattro Pro, Paradox, Corel Presentations, Corel Central), was produced by Corel Corporation Limited, alone.</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="taxonomy"><title>Taxonomy and History</title>
<sect2 id="strategy"><title>Corel WordPerfect Product Strategy</title>
<para>To understand Corel's WP versions for Linux, and what they're like, it helps to know the company's product history. As a proprietary software company, Corel wants customers to buy its boxed-set products. WordPerfect is one such product. CLOS was another. The Corel Netwinder Linux-based computer was a third.</para>
<para>Proprietary software companies are motivated to keep development costs down and product-development cycles short. So, Corel always attempts to use one main codebase, the Win32 version (the MacOS one having been axed in May 2001, per <ulink url="http://www.geocities.com/bulgybear/wp.html">http://www.geocities.com/bulgybear/wp.html</ulink>) as the flagship version, and minimises time and money spent on other OSes' versions.</para>
<para>For similar reasons, the WP product line is always fundamentally less diverse than it seems: To fill different niches and hit various price points, WP is/was offered in different "editions", with more features omitted or disabled from the base "Server" edition (about US $500, boxed set) as one descends the price scale.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="versions"><title>Versions and Editions</title>
<para>WP versions 6 and 7 for Linux (native ports coded by SD Corp) are long gone from the market, at this date. The (premium-priced) Server Edition boxed-set version included multiuser support and NFS locking, and included both an X11 version ("xwp") and a text-mode/console one ("wp"). The lower-priced Personal Edition boxed set omitted both multiuser/NFS support and the console version. (By "boxed set", I mean that the product was not available for download, only in a retail box, via stores or mail-order.)</para>
<para>WP 8.0 for Linux was mostly similar: The Server Edition and Personal Edition boxed-set versions were as detailed for prior versions. However, Corel also introduced a WP 8.0 Download Personal Edition, which could be downloaded free of charge as a gzipped tar archive, and was also redistributed for the cost of media on CD-ROMs, in either tar.gz or RPM format. In late 2001, Corel disabled download of WP 8.0 DPE from its ftp site, but it remains available elsewhere.</para>
<para>WP 8.0 DPE for Linux differed from the boxed-set versions in lacking the other versions' drawing/charting module, their module to create custom dictionaries and hyphenation databases, their equation editor, their network support, their print-queue manager, their prepaid technical support, their sample documents/templates/textures/clipart/photos, their font-installer module, most of their fonts, their multilanguage support, and their documentation. (The program could call up an HTML manual from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual">http://linux.corel.com/wpmanual</ulink>, now removed.) Also, after 90 days, it refuses to run until you enter a registration key, available free of charge (for now) on a page linked from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/">http://linux.corel.com/</ulink> (or use one of the ones people have posted in public). Also, the licence permitted only personal, non-commercial use. Last, it was compiled dynamically linked against some now-obsolete libraries, which must thus be furnished for its benefit.</para>
<para>Balanced against these drawbacks is supplies of 8.0 DPE being effectively inexhaustible -- despite legal questions.</para>
<para>WP 8.0 Personal Edition for Linux was offered in boxed sets, and was offered bundled with the book "WordPerfect for Linux Bible" by Stephen E. Harris and Erwin Zijleman. It included 140 fonts, the font-installer module "xwpfi" (see: <ulink url="http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/wpfonts-fonts.html">http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/wpfonts-fonts.html</ulink>), and support for grammar/spelling checkers and thesaurus lookups in additional (non-English) languages. The CD-ROM includes a text file with a registration key.</para>
<para>WP 8.0 Light Edition for Linux was the bundled WP copy included in boxed sets of CLOS Standard Edition. My best guess is that this was exactly the same program as WP 8.0 DPE except in .deb package format, licensed without the prohibition against commercial use, and probably furnished with a registration key (or fixed to not need one).</para>
<para>Next came WP 8.1 Personal Edition for Linux (WP 8.1 PE), arguably the best version to date. It came only in boxed sets of CLOS Deluxe Edition versions 1.0 and 1.2. (CLOS 1.2 was better known as "Second Edition", a name Corel evidently pitched at MS-Windows users.)</para>
<para>WP 8.1 PE differed from prior versions in several ways. It wasn't licensed for multiuser (only Server Editions included multiuser support and console-mode WP; I know of no 8.1 Server Editions), but was licensed for commercial use. As part of CLOS Deluxe Edition, it was in .deb package format. Redistribution was/is strictly prohibited. It came with a full set of 300 fonts, the font-installer module, network support, WP Draw, and equation editor, and a printed manual. It ships with and installs all required libraries.</para>
<para>The latest and apparently final WP version for Linux was v. 9, promoted by Corel as "WordPerfect Office 2000". This FAQ will have little to say about WP 9 for Linux, as it was not a true native port, but rather consisted of Win32 binary code running in a winelib emulation environment -- with predictable RAM bloat and instability, as a result. (Boxed sets only were offered.)</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="problems"><title>Technical Problems.</title>
<sect2 id="wontinstall"><title>WP 8.0 DPE for Linux installs but won't start on my Linux distribution. How do I fix that?</title>
<para>WP 8.0 for Linux was distributed as a dynamically linked binary, linked against the libc (C library), libm (the related math library), and ld-linux.so.1.9.*/ld.so-1.9.*, the dynamic-linker software current on Linux at that time. Those old libraries are often omitted from current Linux distributions. In such cases, you need to retrofit those libraries. (You can see the exact library links by running "ldd" = list library dependencies against the WordPerfect "xwp" main executable file.) You need to install ld-linux.so.1.9.* and ld.so-1.9.* (both usually in an ld.so package), libc of some version from 5.3.12 through 5.4.46, and libm.so.5.* (both usually in the libc5 package). Don't forget to ensure the libraries' directory is in /etc/ld.so.conf, and then re-run /sbin/ldconfig.</para>
<para>What binary packages these libs and dynamic loader will occupy differs between distributions. If in doubt, documents linked from <ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html">http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html</ulink> may give details for your distribution.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="fitrix"><title>How do I fix MS-Word import/export filters (the Filtrix module) on WP 8.0/8.1 for Linux?</title>
<para>The third-party Filtrix module, because of a programming oversight concerning date-handling, doesn't work on systems whose current date is set later than September 9, 2001: On attempts to import/export MS-Word files, it fails with error message "Filtrix unable to convert this file". The problem can be fixed by installing a wrapper by Valentijn Sessink, available at <ulink url="http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/">http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/</ulink>.</para>
<para>Note: Reportedly, the Filtrix module will not process MS-Word .doc files that were saved in MS-Word with password-protection applied. This is not a bug: Filtrix never handled such files. (Nor can Filtrix handle MS-Word documents with embedded non-MS-Word COM objects such as spreadsheet tables from MS-Excel.)</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="corelfitrix"><title>Why didn't Corel itself release any fix for the MS-Word / Filtrix problem, especially given its obligations to purchasers of boxed-set versions?</title>
<para>Good question. By the time the problem cropped up, Corel had discontinued all involvement in Linux. Just before that, Microsoft Corporation made a major investment in Corel, preventing the latter firm's collapse. It's possible that lack of Linux-competent staffing was an issue, that Corel didn't wish to displease its investor, that the firm perceived inexpensive Linux versions to be impairing sales of its US $500 versions for other Unixes (especially given increasingly common support for Linux-native binaries on those Unixes), or that corporate inertia after liquidating the entire Linux division accounted for this lapse.</para>
<para>Corel's only comment (November 5, 2001) was "The corporation is not prepared to make any comment", and to post a comment on <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/updates.htm#wp8">http://linux.corel.com/support/updates.htm#wp8</ulink>, unchanged since late 2001, that "Corel is currently working with the filter manufacturer to resolve this issue."</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="kab"><title>How do I make WP for Linux's integration with KDE Address Book ("kab") work with KDE2/KDE3?</title>
<para>You don't. WP is compatible with the "kab" version in KDE 1.1, only, that being the KDE version shipped with CLOS. For unexplained reasions, this feature also doesn't work on Linux 2.4.x kernels.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="render"><title>I get rendering problems with icons and other graphical objects when running WP for Linux at greater than 16 bits per pixel. How do I fix that?</title>
<para>This is a frequent symptom of colour palette exhaustion. The only real cure is to run X11 at a lower colour depth. 32 bpp will sometimes work where 24 bpp doesn't, but 16 bpp always works (assuming hardware support).</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="truetype"><title>Can I make WP for Linux use TrueType fonts?</title>
<para>No. WP can use Abobe PostScript Type 1 fonts, and Bitstream fonts, only. The issue is covered comprehensively by Rod Smith, here (including describing a utility for generating PostScript fonts from TrueType ones): <ulink url="http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/">http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/</ulink></para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="printing"><title>How do I get printing to work?</title>
<para>By default, WP for Linux (uniquely) ignores Linux's system printing facilities, and uses its own print engine and drivers. (The latter are the same as for WP on MS-DOS, giving the program very broad printer support. More are available at <ulink url="http://www.wpdos.org/">http://www.wpdos.org/</ulink>.) You need to configure the printing subsystem. As the root user, start xwp with the -admin (or -adm) command-line option, then select and install an appropriate printer driver, using the Add Printer Driver widget. (In such cases but not the Passthru option discussed next, specify "-oraw" in the Lpr options of Select Destination.) Alternatively, select "Passthru Postscript" to hand off jobs to the system printing daemon.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="wpexc"><title>I see the process "wpexc" still running in my system process table, even after quitting WordPerfect. If the WordPerfect program is "xwp", what's "wpexc", and why does it need to remain running?</title>
<para>Tests by Valentijn Sessink have confirmed that this process must have something to do with printing: If you rename the wpexc binary, then start WP, printing will malfunction but no other program features will. The fact that it's left running even after you quit WP appears to be a bug. You can safely kill it, when not running WP.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="xwppmgr"><title>What is the "xwppmgr" process?</title>
<para>It's the WordPerfect Print Manager. WordPerfect by default manages its own printing, and only optionally hands off jobs to the system printing facility, if so configured.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="downloadwp8"><title>Downloadable WP 8</title>
<sect2 id="downloadurl"><title>Where can I find a copy of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux? What filenames should I look for?</title>
<para>Most locations that formerly offered the download (for example, CNET's download.com, ftp.calderasystems.com, and linux.tucows.com) ceased doing so about the time Corel itself did. It's possible (but pure speculation) that Corel asked or required that the files be pulled.</para>
<para>However, the download is still available at:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://sunsite.ui.ac.id/pub/linux/nonfree/">http://sunsite.ui.ac.id/pub/linux/nonfree/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://ftp.urc.ac.ru/pub/OS/Linux/print/">http://ftp.urc.ac.ru/pub/OS/Linux/print/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="ftp://ftp.ufscar.br/pub/linux/editortexto/">ftp://ftp.ufscar.br/pub/linux/editortexto/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://ftp.dreamtime.org/pub/linux/wp8/">http://ftp.dreamtime.org/pub/linux/wp8/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://alge.anart.no/ftp/pub/Office/WordPerfect/">http://alge.anart.no/ftp/pub/Office/WordPerfect/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="ftp://ftp.scola.ac-paris.fr/Linux/bureautique/Word%20Perfect%208/">ftp://ftp.scola.ac-paris.fr/Linux/bureautique/Word%20Perfect%208/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/corel/wordperfect/linux/">ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/corel/wordperfect/linux/</ulink> ,</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.asker.net/pub/linux/corel/">http://www.asker.net/pub/linux/corel/</ulink> , </para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/">http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/</ulink> (note UK, DE localisation files) , and</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.invivo.net/pub/SOFTS/telechargement/Linux/WORDPERF/">http://www.invivo.net/pub/SOFTS/telechargement/Linux/WORDPERF/</ulink> (note FR localisation files).</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>It's packaged either as a single gzipped 23 MB tarball (GUILG00.gz), a single 17 MB RPM archive (included in Caldera OpenLinux through v. 2.3) that installs ready to run, a 22 MB RPM archive (in SuSE Linux boxed sets through 6.1, and a similar one in older boxed sets of Linux-Mandrake) that installs tar archives in /usr/lib/wp8/ that must then be separately installed by running /usr/lib/wp8/Runme, or as a collection of seven separate tarballs (GUILG00.gz through GUILG06.gz). The program also remains available on a US $3 CD-ROM at <ulink url="http://linuxcentral.com/">http://linuxcentral.com/</ulink> or <ulink url="http://www.linuxbuy.com/">http://www.linuxbuy.com/</ulink>. Ditto on a US $1 CD-ROM at <ulink url="http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/">http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/</ulink>.</para>
<para>The filenames listed are for the default US English version: The filenames for other localisations are included on <ulink url="http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/Readme.html">http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/Readme.html</ulink>, and download sources for three of those are noted above.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="fix8"><title>After I locate WP 8.0 DPE for Linux, what can I do to improve and fix it?</title>
<para>Your first challenge may be to unpack it. You'll have no problem with the (rare) RPM archive, but the gzipped tarballs (either a single-piece archive named GUILG00.gz, 23 MB, or seven smaller archives named GUILG00.gz through GUILG06.gz) will appear a little puzzling: Despite having a .gz extension (only), they are in fact gzipped tarballs. Further, they un-tar right into the current directory, rather than creating a container directory. Corel grotesquely botched the packaging. If in doubt, use the Linux "file" utility to determine what you're working with.</para>
<para>After unpacking (along with reading the Readme file and running ./Runme as directed), you'll have to furnish the dynamic libraries WP 8.x requires: ld-linux.so.1.9.5, ld.so-1.9.5, libc-5.3.12 through 5.4.46, and libm.so.5.*. These will probably be optional packages for your distribution, not installed by default. You'll also want to apply Valentijn Sessink's wrapper to fix the "Filtrix" MS-Word import/export module, available at <ulink url="http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/">http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/</ulink>.</para>
<para>Last, in lieu of the on-line manual Corel has removed from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual">http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual</ulink>, you'll want to bookmark some sites as a partial substitute:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8">http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm">http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/html/9201.htm">http://linux.corel.com/support/html/9201.htm</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://octoped.net/linux/wp8.html">http://octoped.net/linux/wp8.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/">http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/">http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html">http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html">http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html">http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgabe/1999/12/WordPerfect1/wordperfect1.html">http://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgabe/1999/12/WordPerfect1/wordperfect1.html</ulink> (German language)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.dalug.nu/lnx/review-wp.html">http://www.dalug.nu/lnx/review-wp.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/">http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/</ulink> (additional language modules)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://howto.lycos.com/lycos/topic/1,,10+57+26117,00.html">http://howto.lycos.com/lycos/topic/1,,10+57+26117,00.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.qwkscreen.com/WPLinuxLinks.html">http://www.qwkscreen.com/WPLinuxLinks.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://users.lightbearer.com/set/wp/">http://users.lightbearer.com/set/wp/</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.service911.com/internet/topic/1,,10+58+26117,00.html">http://www.service911.com/internet/topic/1,,10+58+26117,00.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/WordPerfect.html">http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/WordPerfect.html</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://unix.wizard.ca/wplinux/">http://unix.wizard.ca/wplinux/</ulink></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://zinc.ichf.edu.pl/wordperfect/">http://zinc.ichf.edu.pl/wordperfect/</ulink> (Polish language)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-PaloAlto/8336/work-wp8.html">http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-PaloAlto/8336/work-wp8.html</ulink> (Japanese language)</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="redistribute"><title>Given that Corel has ceased publishing it, is redistribution of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux still legal?</title>
<para>That question really divides into two cases, distributors who secured a specific grant of redistribution rights from Corel and those who didn't. If you examine WP 8.0 DPE copies downloaded from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/products/linuxproducts_wp8_downloadlinks.htm">http://linux.corel.com/products/linuxproducts_wp8_downloadlinks.htm</ulink> and elsewhere (including CD-ROM WP 8 copies, boxed-set versions of SuSE Linux through 6.1, etc.), you'll notice its licence omits the right to redistribute, and says the recipient's licence is non-transferrable. Copyright law reserves distribution rights to a work's copyright owner, by default. So, strictly speaking, redistributing WP 8.0 DPE without explicit permission violates Corel's copyright.</para>
<para>(I am not a lawyer. This FAQ is not legal advice.)</para>
<para>Fortunately, Corel seems either tolerant or apathetic. (Pick one.) Also, companies like Edmund Enterprises and Linux Central may have permission memos from Corel Legal on file. Or not.</para>
<para>The point is that redistribution isn't something we can count on: Corel seems to have the right to enjoin anyone from redistributing it (absent long-term contract entitlements we don't know about).</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="licence8"><title>What are the licence restrictions on WP 8.0 DPE for Linux?</title>
<para>You may install it only on two computers and use it only on one machine at a time. Personal, non-commercial use only. You may not reverse-engineer or modify it. You must be in compliance with export laws and not associated with countries the USA considers naughty, like Cuba. You mustn't be on the USA Treasury or Commerce Department's lists of naughty people (drug smugglers, terrorists, export-regs violators, etc.). You mustn't allow use of the program to violate USA law.</para>
<para>The full licence text may be studied here: <ulink url="http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8-licence">http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8-licence</ulink></para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="uplicence8"><title>Suppose I suddenly need to use my copy of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux in a commercial setting. Can I upgrade my licence?</title>
<para>No. Corel made no provision for that, and discontinued all Linux operations in May 2001. At this late date, your best bet is probably to seek out a boxed set of CLOS Deluxe Edition for its copy of WP 8.1 PE.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="upfont8"><title>How can I add more fonts to WP 8.0 DPE?</title>
<para>You can't. The font-installer utility ("xwpfi") was deliberately omitted from WP 8.0 DPE to differentiate it from the boxed sets and motivate you to upgrade to the latter. It's possible you might be able to grab that utility from another edition of WP 6, 7, or 8.x, but that would almost certainly be copyright violation.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="uplang8"><title>How do I add additional language files (other than US English) to WP 8.0 DPE?</title>
<para>At one time, Corel offered free-of-charge localisation add-ons for nine other languages and countries, at <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/products/wp8/download_instr.htm">http://linux.corel.com/products/wp8/download_instr.htm</ulink>, but removed them not long after it closed down its Linux division in May 2001.</para>
<para>However, in FAQ section 4.1, you'll find links for additional-language tarballs I've found for FR=France, UK=United Kingdom, and DE=Germany. If anyone finds any of the other six, please let me know. (The ES=Spain archive in a sibling directory of the French one is unfortunately corrupted.) They were as follows: Canadian English (large archive guilgce0.gz or split format guice00.gz - guice03.gz), French (large archive guilgfr0.gz or split format guifr00.gz - guifr03.gz), Australian English (large archive guilgoz0.gz or split format guioz00.gz - guioz05.gz), Canadian French (large archive guilgcf0.gz or split format guicf00.gz - guicf04.gz), Dutch (large archive guilgnl0.gz or split format guinl00.gz - guinl03.gz), and Italian (large archive guilit0.gz or split format guiit00.gz - guiit03.gz).</para>
<para>The language tarballs (which, despite the "gz" extension, are actually .tar.gz files) have a "Runme" installation script, which takes care of all installation details, and localises all aspects of the program. If, on the other hand, you find a source for just the .lex dictionary files, copy them as the root user to WP8's "shlib10" directory. Start xwp with the -admin (or -adm) command-line option. Find the option to add additional languages. Exit xwp. In either case, after installing the language files, start xwp with the "-lang" option to override the US English default, e.g.. "xwp -lang de".</para>
<para>One source for .lex files is the CD bundled with the book "WordPerfect for Linux Bible", discussed in section 7.1. But, of course, if you have the WP 8.0 PE software from that book, you don't really need WP 8.0 DPE. (I don't know if it's lawful to redistribute the book's .lex files. That might depend on licensing.)</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="regkeys"><title>Where will we get new WP 8.0 registration keys, if/when Corel stops offering them at the page linked from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/">http://linux.corel.com/</ulink>?</title>
<para>Fortunately, Corel didn't prohibit recipients from publishing their registration keys, and at least three users have done so. As long as Corel continues to offer keys (at <ulink url="http://venus.corel.com/nasapps/wp8linuxreg/register.html">http://venus.corel.com/nasapps/wp8linuxreg/register.html</ulink>), it seems fair to give them the marketing information they gain thereby. If that facility is ever discontinued, use "LW8XW-bA8L9bjZf9", "LW8XW-NfDyZN1HfZ", or "LW8XW-nEqIHnZrcH".</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="nondownloadwp8"><title>Non-downloadable WP 8</title>
<sect2 id="getwp81"><title>Where can I find a copy of WP 8.1 PE for Linux?</title>
<para>That version is available only inside boxed sets of CLOS Deluxe Edition versions 1.0 and 1.2. Nowhere else. There was never a "download edition", and Corel's licence terms strictly forbid redistribution.</para>
<para>CLOS Deluxe Edition v. 1.2 aka "Second Edition" is still available for US $85 at <ulink url="http://www.cheapbytes.com/">http://www.cheapbytes.com/</ulink> , and can frequently be found on eBay. Cassam Computers, <ulink url="http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~pdj/Linux.html">http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~pdj/Linux.html</ulink>, has it for CAN $100. EMS Professional Software and Consulting, <ulink url="http://www.emsps.com/oldtools/misc-c.htm">http://www.emsps.com/oldtools/misc-c.htm</ulink>, has it for US $100.</para>
<para>Please note that downloading an ISO9660 (CD-ROM) image of CLOS absolutely does not do the trick: That will be CLOS Download Edition, which has no version of WP for Linux at all. You need CLOS Deluxe Edition, one of the two boxed sets -- not CLOS Standard Edition (the other boxed set), and not CLOS Download Edition.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="wp8v81"><title>What does WP 8.1 PE give me that's not in WP 8.0 DPE?</title>
<para>Electronic (PDF) and paperbound reference manuals and an electronic (PDF) user's manual, the font-installer module, WP Draw (the drawing/charting module), the module to create custom dictionaries and hyphenation databases, an equation editor, network support, a print-queue manager, prepaid technical support, sample documents/templates/textures/clipart/photos, and 300 fonts. Also, much better handling of watermarks, multiple language support in the spelling checker / grammar checker / thesaurus, more-current printer drivers and better printer setup, and no need to get a registration key. The necessary support libraries are also included and installed automatically. Corel Draw is also included (in a separate package).</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="licence81"><title>What are the licence restrictions on WP 8.1 PE for Linux?</title>
<para>You may install it only on two machines at a time, for use by only a single user. You may not reverse-engineer or modify it. You must be in compliance with export laws and not associated with countries the USA considers naughty, like Cuba. You mustn't be on the USA Treasury or Commerce Department's lists of naughty people (drug smugglers, terrorists, export-regs violators, etc.). You mustn't allow use of the program to violate USA law.</para>
<para>Please note that, unlike WP 8.0 DPE, WP 8.1 PE is licensed for commercial usage.<para>
<para>The full licence text may be studied here: <ulink url="http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8.1-licence">http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8.1-licence</ulink></para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="clos11"><title>Why was WP missing from CLOS Deluxe Edition version 1.1?</title>
<para>CLOS Deluxe Edition v. 1.1 was available only as an upgrade to apply to v. 1.0, not as a separate product. So, you didn't get a copy of WP because you already had one.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="install81"><title>How do I install WP 8.1 PE (from a CLOS Deluxe Edition boxed set) on some other Linux distribution?</title>
<para>The file you'll need from the CLOS Deluxe Edition CD-ROM is a 40 MB one called wp-full_8.1-nn_i386.deb, where "nn" is the package version number, which will depend on the vintage of CLOS you have (and doesn't matter much). On any .deb-based distribution (such as Debian, CLOS, Xandros Desktop, Libranet, Stormix, Progeny, etc.), just do "dpkg -i packagename", as usual. WP probably won't be auto-added to your distribution's menus: The startup binary is "xwp".</para> <para>On other distributions, you can use Joey Hess's "alien" utility to create an approximately equivalent RPM package, a Slackware .tgz package, a Solaris .pkg package, or a Stampede Linux .slp package. Alternatively, you can use the standard "ar" archive utility to pull apart the .deb file and install the pieces manually. The HOWTO documents linked from <ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html">http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html</ulink> will probably help, there.</para> <para>CLOS Deluxe Edition also includes three .deb packages of PostScript Type 1 fonts (fonts-16_1.0-5.deb, fonts-69_1.0-4.deb, and fonts-115_1.0-4.deb), which are likewise useful on other Linux distributions. (You may also want the type1inst_0.6.1-6_i386.deb package, if you don't already have the Type 1 Font Installer utility.) On CLOS, they install to /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/ , making them available to the system generally. You can either convert the .debs as detailed above for WP itself, or grab the font files from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/.</para>
<para>Font-addition procedures within WP 8.1 PE itself are covered in the next FAQ item.</para>
<para>Leon A. Goldstein's HOWTO for installing WP 8.x on Libranet gives more detail: <ulink url="http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html">http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html</ulink></para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="fonts81"><title>How do I add fonts to WP 8.1 PE?</title>
<para>First, as the root user, physically place them in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/ , or wherever system-wide Type 1 fonts go on your distribution. While in that directory, run "type1inst" (usually in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1), then "mkfontdir". The fonts will now be available to all applications using PostScript Type 1 fonts.</para>
<para>Last, run the WP font installer "/usr/lib/wp8/shbin10/wpfi" (creating /usr/lib/wp8/shlib10/wp.drs, the WP font map).</para>
<para>Alternatively instead of the last step, start xwp with the -admin (or -adm) command-line option. On the Format menu, pick Fonts. You'll find a button to select and then install (into WP's internal list of known fonts) fonts from a list of those available. Exit xwp. Or, instead of "xwp -admin", run /usr/lib/wp8/shbin10/xwpfi . (This works for PostScript Type 1 fonts only, not TrueType.)</para>
<para>Leon A. Goldstein's HOWTO for installing WP 8.x on Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 / eDesk 2.4 covers this matter in much greater detail: <ulink url="http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html">http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html</ulink></para>
<para>Please note also that ideally you'll be adding any fonts to any WP 8.x version twice, once as a screen font and once as a printer font. This matter is covered comprehensively by Rod Smith at <ulink url="http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/">http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="closvers"><title>What's the difference between the WP versions bundled with CLOS Deluxe Edition versions 1.0 and 1.2?</title>
<para>CLOS 1.0's CD-ROM also includes a second .deb package (package name "wp-manual") containing an electronic WP manual. However, that manual is for the non-Linux Unix version, so its omission from CLOS 1.2 is no big loss. (The same manual in PDF format can be retrieved from <ulink url="http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/wp8gui.pdf">http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/wp8gui.pdf</ulink>.) The boxed set's paperbound WP manual is a lot more useful, anyway.</para>
<para>Also among the additions in CLOS 1.2 was a WINE (non-Linux-native) port of Corel PhotoPaint 9 (which is also available for free-of-charge download from <ulink url="ftp://ftp2.corel.com/pub/linux/PhotoPaint9/">ftp://ftp2.corel.com/pub/linux/PhotoPaint9/</ulink>).</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boxedwp8pe"><title>Where can I get a boxed-set copy of WP 8.0 PE?</title>
<para>It's still available from Claremont Communications, Inc. doing business as Mycomputerstore.ca, for CAN $70, at <ulink url="http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html">http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html</ulink>, and at Open Systems Computing Corp. doing business as Open Systems Express for US $90, at <ulink url="http://www.osexpress.com/">http://www.osexpress.com/</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boxedwp8se"><title>Where can I find a boxed-set copy of WP 8.0 Server Edition for Linux?</title>
<para>It's still available from Claremont Communications, Inc. doing business as Mycomputerstore.ca, for CAN $600, at <ulink url="http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html">http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html</ulink>, and at Open Systems Computing Corp. doing business as Open Systems Express for US $450, at <ulink url="http://www.osexpress.com/">http://www.osexpress.com/</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="wp9"><title>WP version 9</title>
<sect2 id="wp9better"><title>Isn't WP 9 For Linux (in the "WordPerfect Office 2000" suite) better than WP 8.1?</title>
<para>Few would agree. Its admirers seem to be, well, MS-Windows users, since WP 9 is pretty much the Win32 version running in a winelib environment, with RAM bloat, stability problems, and other glitches (including DOS drive letters in file dialogues!) that are routine on MS-Windows but not Linux.</para>
<para>Very likely, WP 9 introduced some feature-set attractions, but needing to run emulation code with performance and stability problems seems a poor tradeoff. I consider 8.1 vastly preferable.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="wp9native"><title>Why didn't Corel do WP 9 as a native Linux
port?</title>
<para>My best guess: Doing a winelib version allowed Corel to leverage its existing Win32 codebase, write a minimum amount of new code, shorten development time, reduce costs, and keep the effort in-house rather than having to hire SD Corp again.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="docs"><title>Documentation</title>
<sect2 id="wpbooks"><title>What books are available concerning WP for
Linux?</title>
<para>"Special Edition Using Corel WordPerfect 8 for Linux" by Roderick W. Smith (Que, ASIN 0789720329, US $4 on <ulink url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789720329/qid%3D1028107345/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-5929383-6737760">Amazon.com</ulink>) and "WordPerfect for Linux Bible" by Stephen E. Harris and Erwin Zijleman (IDG Books, ISBN 0764533746, US $40 on <ulink url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764533746/qid%3D1028107552/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-5929383-6737760">Amazon.com)</ulink>. The latter includes a copy of WP 8.0 (non-download) Personal Edition. This differs from WP 8.0 DPE in inclusion of 150 fonts, a font-installer utility, and support for grammar/spelling checkers and thesaurus lookups in multiple languages. The CD-ROM includes a text file containing a registration key, and the licence doesn't bar commercial usage.</para>
<para>The Smith book is valuable for its highly-comprehensive coverage of Linux topics; the Harris and Zijleman one for its bundled software. Both are recommended.</para>
<para>Author Rod Smith has a Web page describing both of them, plus reviewing all other known books on WP for Linux (and ones for Star Office and The GIMP): <ulink url="http://www.rodsbooks.com/books/books-wp.html">http://www.rodsbooks.com/books/books-wp.html</ulink></para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="onlinedocs"><title> WP 8.x's access to on-line docs doesn't work any more, saying "document not found (404 error)". Where did they go?</title>
<para>At the same time Corel removed WP 8.0 DPE from <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/products/linuxproducts_wp8_downloadlinks.htm">http://linux.corel.com/products/linuxproducts_wp8_downloadlinks.htm</ulink>, it also removed the on-line HTML-format manual (<ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual">http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual</ulink>), knowledgebase (<ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/wpkb">http://linux.corel.com/wpkb</ulink>), and support page (<ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/wpsupport">http://linux.corel.com/wpsupport</ulink>) that all WP 8.x for Linux programs referenced via hyperlink. (Corel has substitute knowledgebase and support pages, but, if anyone made a copy of the HTML manual, please let me know.) Corel's remaining on-line documentation is at <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8">http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8</ulink> and <ulink url="http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm">http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="future"><title>The Future</title>
<sect2 id="end"><title>Why did Corel cease publishing WP for Linux?</title>
<para>Corel discontinued all Linux-related operations shortly after Microsoft Corporation's major investment that prevented the firm's collapse: Some speculate a causal relationship. Corel may have also seen WP for Linux sales (and downloads) as being at the expense of its versions for non-Linux Unixes, through both the influx of Intel Linux boxes and other Unix platforms' increasing ability to run Intel Linux binaries. Also, outgoing CEO Michael Cowpland had been the main force behind Corel's Linux program, and new management doesn't share his views.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="unixnotlinux"><title>Why is Corel still selling WP versions for other Unixes, but not Linux?</title>
<para>Good question. Corel has never addressed the matter.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="xandros"><title>Won't WP for Linux re-emerge as part of Xandros Desktop?</title>
<para>It appears not. When Corel divested itself of CLOS, and transferred all rights to Xandros Corporation, WordPerfect was not part of the deal. Corel is sitting on all WP rights.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="opensource"><title>If Corel doesn't want to sell WP for Linux, why doesn't it open-source the program?</title>
<para>First, that would impair sales of Corel's versions for Win32 and other proprietary platforms. Second, Corel doesn't own all the necessary rights. WP includes code from at least five other companies, judging by the copyright notices (Blueberry Software, Globetrotter Software, Inc., Bristol Technology, Inc., INSO Corporation, and Novell, Inc.).</para>
<para>In the latter sense, Corel's situation is similar to that of Sun Microsystems in regard to Star Office. Sun bought the publisher of that program, Star Division GmbH, and then spent approximately a year and untold employee time studying copyright, patent, contract, and other encumbrances. Eventually, it was able to open-source the majority of the source code, the part not encumbered by third-party rights, as what became the OpenOffice.org project.</para>
<para>The difference is that Sun was strongly motivated to create an open-source variant for all possible OS platforms -- in order to feed sales of Solaris and its hardware, and to undermine Microsoft Corporation. It had (and has) deep resources and patience. Corel had none of those things -- and might have had greater third-party interests to contend with.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="alternatives"><title>What alternatives to WP exist on Linux?</title>
<para>Proprietary (see also Chris Browne's <ulink url="http://cbbrowne.com/info/wplcomm.html">http://cbbrowne.com/info/wplcomm.html</ulink>):</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Sun Microsystems <ulink url="http://www.sun.com/staroffice/">Star Office</ulink> suite's StarWriter word processor. Very full featured, high degree of Microsoft compatibility. Large, slow. GTK+-based. No .wpd support in the Linux version.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>VistaSource Software <ulink url="http://www.vistasource.com/page.php?id=7">Anyware Office / Anyware Desktop</ulink> suite's (was Applix's ApplixWare Office) Anyware Words word processor. Moderately good all-round office suite with a long history in the Unix world. OK performance, stable, good MS doc compatibility. Motif-based. Includes .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>HancomLinux, Inc. <ulink url="http://en.hancom.com/">Hancom Office</ulink> suite's Hancom Word word processor. Qt-based. Good MS doc compatibility. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Quadraton Systems, Inc. <ulink url="http://www.dr-quad.com/cliqword.htm">CliqWord</ulink>. Character-based (console) office automation software. Listed here only because Chris Browne includes it, as I'm not at all sure it belongs in this category. No import/export facilities whatsoever that I can confirm.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Axene, Inc. <ulink url="http://xibios.free.fr/english/">Xclamation (DTP) and XAllWrite (word processor)</ulink> programs. Motif-based. No document import/export features worth mentioning; no .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>SmartWare Corporation (formerly Angoss Software Corporation) <ulink url="http://www.smartware4.com/">SmartWare</ulink>. Existing codebase is a character-based (console) office suite, currently off the market (July 2002) while being updated with an X11 GUI and improved installer. Strengths include vertical-application support, robustness in multiuser situations, and bundled rapid application development tools. The product will be relaunched when revision work completes.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Gobe Software <ulink url="http://www.gobe.com/">GobeProductive</ulink> suite (announced but not yet shipped for Linux). Produced by the team that did ClarisWorks. Frame-oriented. Light, fast. Full-featured. Supports MS-Word, RTF. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Sophist Solutions, Inc. <ulink url="http://www.sophists.com/Led/LedIt/">LedIt</ulink> word processor. Small, fast. GTK+-based. Supports RTF. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>Note: If this FAQ has a point beyond answering questions, it is to illustrate the pitfall of buying into proprietary software that exists at the whim of a corporate publisher and may be hostage to its fortunes. On the other hand, it also shows that proprietary offerings can be excellent of their types. Choose with your eyes open.</para>
<para>Open Source (see also Chris Browne's <ulink url="http://cbbrowne.com/info/wp.html">http://cbbrowne.com/info/wp.html</ulink>):</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.openoffice.org/">OpenOffice.org</ulink> suite's Writer word processor (derived from Star Office). GTK+-based. Large, slow. Supports MS-Word, StarWriter, RTF, and a few other formats. Excellent MS doc compatibility. No .wpd support. (They need to borrow code from AbiWord!)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>SOT Finnish Software Engineering Ltd. <ulink url="http://www.sot.com/en/linux/soto/">SOT Office 2002</ulink> suite's SOT Office Writer. Based on OpenOffice.org, adding some software enhancements (added spelling checker and hyphenation dictionaries, templates, commercial support, enhanced on-line help and PDF manual). Available in a boxed set with printed docs. All other remarks about OpenOffice.org also apply here.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>SourceGear Corporation <ulink url="http://www.abisource.com/">AbiWord</ulink>. GTK+-based. Table support is only now being added. Fast, light, stable. Supports MS-Word, Anyware Words/Applix Words, AbiWord, RTF, WordPerfect .wpd, Microsoft Write, DocBook, XHTML, and many other formats. Excellent MS doc compatibility.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>KDE KOffice suite's <ulink url="http://koffice.kde.org/kword/">KWord</ulink> word processor. Frame-oriented. Qt-based. Supports MS-Word, Anyware Words/Applix Words, AbiWord formats. Medium-good MS doc compatibility. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>SIAG Office suite's <ulink url="http://siag.nu/pw/">Pathetic Writer</ulink> word processor. Supports RTF. Supports MS-Word via WVware. Athena-based. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.eeyore-mule.demon.co.uk/">Maxwell</ulink> word processor. Motif-based (not yet LessTif). Supports RTF. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.oksid.ch/flwriter/">FLWriter</ulink> (Fast Light Writer). Xhtml file format with UTF-8 encoding, excellent multilanguage support, spelling checker. Exports RTF 1.5. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.nllgg.nl/Ted/">Ted</ulink>. Simple word processor similar in spirit to MS-Windows's WordPad. RTF is native format. Motif/LessTif-based. Supports PDF, PostScript. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>CMU <ulink url="http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~AUIS/">Andrew User Interface System</ulink> (auis) package's EZ editor mode. Uses a well-thought-out system of ASCII + style/template markup. Supports RTF. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><ulink url="http://www.lyx.org/">LyX</ulink> (slick graphical front-end to LaTeX). Implements ASCII + TeX markup in a quasi-WYSIWYG graphical environment. You write structured documents (discussed below), but the process is made graphical and fairly easy. Produces reliable, high-quality output. Excellent built-in help. Supports LinuxDoc, DocBook, LaTeX, PostScript, DVI, ASCII. Xforms or Qt-based, with GTK+ integration pending. No .wpd support.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>The last item listed, LyX, is an intriguing hybrid of GUI word processor features and classic Unix-type document processing. The latter is often dismissed in the business world as powerful and professional but too arcane -- but LyX makes it accessible.</para>
<para>The rationale and workflow approach behind LyX are best described on that project's Web site at <ulink url="http://www.lyx.org/about/intro.php3">http://www.lyx.org/about/intro.php3</ulink>, but here's an attempt to summarise:</para>
<para>LyX has you work on a document in a graphical, close approximation of how it will print, but, unlike in traditional word processors, you don't directly manipulate document appearance, but rather apply (and edit/create) style rulesets (templates), which consistently apply formatting on your behalf -- and change consistently wherever used in the document, when you alter a style's contents. (Rulesets are applied by the LaTeX professional-grade typesetting engine, for which LyX is a graphical front-end. LaTeX is an open-source implementation of Donald Knuth's TeX typesetting engine.)</para>
<para>As a result, eventual output is always consistent and of true professional appearance (famously so), regardless of the document's complexity. LyX becomes progressively easier to use than ostensibly simpler word processors as you get into more-complex documents (technical documentation, doctoral theses, conference proceedings, movie scripts, articles on mathematics or physics with formulas to edit and present). Many templates for both simple and complex document types are provided, all traditional word-processing features are also present, and so is extremely thorough on-line help.</para>
<para>As a bonus, all documents are stored in plain ASCII text with embedded TeX style tags, resulting in accessible data that will never auto-corrupt the way many word-processor formats do, that lends itself nicely to version control, and that outputs to practically any data format desired.</para>
<para>Consider transitioning to LyX or some other form of structured-document editing instead of traditional word processing, over the long term. Your benefits over the long haul will justify the trouble.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="feedback"><title>Feedback. Location. Copyright and Redistribution Terms.</title>
<para>This FAQ is maintained by Rick Moen (<ulink url="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com">rick@linuxmafia.com</ulink>), to whom all corrections and suggestions should be addressed. The latest revision can always be found at <ulink url="http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/">http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/</ulink> and the master DocBook SGML source at <ulink url="http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/wordperfect-linux-faq.sgml">http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/wordperfect-linux-faq.sgml</ulink>. I use the toolset described in the LDP Author Guide, <ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/">http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/</ulink>.</para>
<para>Contents are Copyright (C) 2002, Rick Moen.</para>
<para>This information is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, version 2.</para>
<para>This work is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.</para>
<para>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.</para>
</sect1>
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