Word Perfect in Linux?

[Paul Merrell]

On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 7:42 PM, Karl Wilbur <karl at karlwilbur.net> wrote:
> Data from Wikipedia:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPerfect#WordPerfect_for_Linux
>
> Detailed WordPerfect 8 installation instructions for Linux:
> http://www.linuxtoday.com/developer/1998122101210NWSW
>
> These threads have some data about why it might not be feasible:
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1441258
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=80441
>

I used to own and operate WordPerfect Universe,
<http://wpuniverse.com>. Some corrections/addenda to the Wikipedia
information:

>From the time that WordPerfect Corp. was asorbed into Novell Corp.
until shortly after WordPerfect Office programs were acquired by
Corel, WordPerfect for Unix was developed by a group of former
WordPerfect Corp. developers under the banner of SD Corp. as a work
for hire under contract to variously, Novell, Caldera, Novell again,
and Corel, the last SD Corp. version being WordPerfect 8 for Unix.

WordPerfect 8 for Linux was later issued by Corel, a scaled-back
version of WordPerfect 8 for Unix but with a few bugfixes. Far fewer
fonts and clipart, some optimizations for Corel Linux, a Debian
derivative. It was distributed as a freebie with Corel Linux, also a
freebie, about 20 million copies.

WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux (WordPerfect 9.0) was a port of
WordPerfect Office for Windows to Corel's own exended version of WINE.
It was released with show-stopper bugs that were never repaired. E.g.,
no working directory navigation in the file picker dialogs. This was
because Corel founder and CEO Michael Cowpland was brought down by a
stockholder's revolt and the new board promptly abandoned all
Linux-related efforts. WPO 2K for Linux is not worth buying at any
price, except for the approximately 1,000 high quality fonts shipped
with it. The Corel WINE developers resigned and began the CodeWeavers
project, producers of CrossOver, a WINE derivative optimized for
Windows games. Corel Linux was spun off to Xandros, formed by the
former Corel engineers who had developed Corel Linux and the operating
system

Later, sufficient enthusiasm within Corel was aroused to issue a new
version of WordPerfect for Linux, version 8.1, to test the waters for
a commercial release on Linux. Sales were abysmal, so Corel abandoned
the project. This version had a few more bug-fixes in the v. 8
codebase and added more fonts and clipart, albeit still far less than
in WordPerfect 8 for Unix.

The Holy Grail version of WordPerfect for use on Linux is v. 8 for
Unix, although versions 6 and 7 should also serve. However, the Unix
versions are seldom offered for sale. Watching eBay is probably your
best bet here.

The various releases of WordPerfect 8 for Linux are more commonly
found. WordPerfect 8 for Linux DPE ("Downloadable Personal Edition) is
quite arguably the best. It is still downloadable from some sites. For
download sites and the somewhat tricky installation issues (mostly
work-arounds for dependencies that no longer ship with more modern
versions of Linux), see
<http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/WordPerfect-Linux-FAQ/downloadwp8.html>.

Regardless of which flavor of WordPefect 8 for Unix/Linux used, you
will find invaluable the user manual for WordPefect 8 for Unix. It is
available online. <http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/compfac/WP/wp8gui.pdf>.

HTH,

Paul E. "Marbux" Merrell, J.D.