[conspire] (forw) Re: Corel Linux on an ASUS T2-RS?

[Daniel Gimpelevich]

If you've completely given up on WeirdPerfect, and OpenOffice.org is 
way too much for you to deal with, you'll probably really like AbiWord, 
which is available on most Linux distributions. Debian requires actual 
knowledge on the part of the user during installation and 
configuration, but once it's up and running with everything working, 
maintenance is relatively straightforward. Celeron is i686; "ia64" 
refers to the Itanium. One thing that has been rather popular to do is 
to first install a Debian-based distribution such as Libranet or 
Knoppix or MEPIS, and gradually migrate the installed system to a 
Debian system. As for not being qualified to use Linux, KDE is very 
nice, and if you find that you can do everything you want using the KDE 
gui alone, you can go right ahead and do so. Otherwise, I recommend you 
pick up a copy of "A Practical Guide to Linux" by Mark Sobell. You can 
start off with the beginner's tutorials in that book, and as you feel 
more comfortable and knowledgeable, move on to the more advanced 
sections.

On Friday, December 10, 2004, at 05:06  PM, Paul Ross wrote:

> Hi Daniel,
>
> Thanks for your support on this project.  I must tell you at
> the outset, in case it was not obvious from my first email,
> that I am not qualified to use linux.  I have been using it
> for two or three years now and thanks to the KDE gui I have
> managed to learn nothing about linux.
>
> I want to use WP because I had reasonably good luck using
> WP5.1 for dos several years ago.  I subsequently used MS
> Office 95 and 97, neither of which I liked.  I tried Open
> Office 1.0.1 but it is like Word on acid.  I think I have
> some hardware issues also.  I recently increased the memory
> from 128 mb to 256 mb.  I bought the computer from Frys a
> couple of years ago and I have always thought it was a
> piece of junk.
>
> I'm not exactly sure whether I got the 3-in-1 pci kit.  I
> haven't found any reference to it in the user guide.
> Central had two models: deluxe and standard.  The deluxe
> has the 3-in-1 kit, according to the ASUS website.  I chose
> the standard, which cost about $50 less.  There was also a
> card reader built into the deluxe.
>
> I have on cd the download version of WP 8 for linux.   When
> I tried to install it a year or so ago, the instructions
> indicated that I needed to install a certain package which
> was more primitive than what existed in Mandrake 9.1  As I
> recall, the package was rp8.linux20.libc6.i386.cs2.rpm
>
> I did not necessarily get that package installed properly.
> After reading Rick Moen's response to my request, I have
> decided to put the WP on the back burner.  I also want to
> get away from Mandrake.  I am interested in Debian because
> it seems to be the least commercial distribution although
> it may require actual knowledge on the part of the user.  I
> will take the ASUS computer to the CABAL meeting and follow
> their advice as to what the best version of Linux would be
> for me.  I looked at Debian distributions at Cheapbytes
> last night and found some new issues:  is a Celeron an x86
> architecture or IA64?  I'll ask them tomorrow.
>
> If I am feeling brave next January I might bring the
> computer in again and have you look at it.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Sincerely,
> Paul Ross
>
> On Friday 10 December 2004 10:17 pm, you wrote:
>> If you're indeed talking about WP8 and not WP9, you're
>> welcome to bring by the Mandrake 9.1 machine for help in
>> trying to get WP to work on that system in addition to
>> bringing by the ASUS machine for an install (BTW, I'm
>> curious: Did you get the 3-in-1 PCI kit that was optional
>> with the T2-RS?). SUSE 9.1 is more similar to Mandrake
>> than Libranet and Xandros are, so it's the more obvious
>> choice if you want to install WP8 there. One caveat
>> though: Rick said regarding Corel Linux "the very old
>> XFree86 graphics software circa v. 3.2 would definitely
>> not know what to make of that ATI chipset," and SUSE 9.1
>> has v. 3.3.2, so I would strongly recommend replacing it
>> immediately as described at:
>> ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/Xorg/Xor
>> g-X11R6.8.1/i386/suse91/README However, note that the
>> fglrx driver you will need does not yet support that X
>> server, so you will need to wait until ATI releases a new
>> version of it sometime this month before attempting a
>> SUSE 9.1 install on the T2-RS. I will be at the 1/8/05
>> CABAL meeting and will be glad to assist.
>>
>> SUSE Professional 9.2 is now out, but has a 2.6.8 kernel
>> (unsuitable for WordPerfect). For information regarding
>> the LiveCD, read:
>> ftp://mirrors.usc.edu/pub/linux/distributions/suse/i386/l
>> ive-cd-9.2/README.txt The installable ISO will be
>> available next month. Details:
>> ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/9.2/README.txt
>> SUSE is available for i386 (actually i586 and i686 only)
>> and x86_64 (Athlon).
>>
>> On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 00:58:33 -0800, Rick Moen wrote:
>>> ----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen
>>> <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----
>>>
>>> Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 00:58:10 -0800
>>> To: Paul Ross <paulross at igc.org>
>>> Cc: installers at linuxmafia.com
>>> Subject: Re: Corel Linux on an ASUS T2-RS?
>>> Reply-To: installers at linuxmafia.com
>>> From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
>>>
>>> Quoting Paul Ross (paulross at igc.org):
>>>> Hi guys,
>>>
>>> Hi, Paul.
>>>
>>>> I recently purchased an ASUS T2-R (Std) from Central
>>>> Computer in Newark.  I am trying to install Corel
>>>> Linux on it.  The installation program starts but
>>>> stops and reboots before it gets far along enough to
>>>> prompt me to do anything.
>>>
>>> That's understandable.  Corel Linux OS, even the final
>>> 1.2 release, is now extremely ancient in Linux terms.
>>> The very, very obsolete 2.2 installation kernel would
>>> not have been able to deal with most or all of the
>>> hardware interfaces provided by the ASUS P4R8T
>>> motherboard chipset collection, or the embedded ATI
>>> RS300-based video chipset.
>>>
>>> Similarly, the very old XFree86 graphics software circa
>>> v. 3.2 would definitely not know what to make of that
>>> ATI chipset.
>>>
>>> You'll need something much more recent; indeed,
>>> something very recent. Corel Linux is definitely not
>>> it.
>>>
>>>> The reason I want to install Corel is that I want to
>>>> have WordPerfect and I have not been able to install
>>>> WP on my other computer which has Mandrake 9.1.
>>>
>>> Assuming you're talking about installing WP 8.x onto
>>> current Mandrakelinux, here are the old instructions
>>> from the (now discontinued) Corel Knowledgebase pages,
>>> slightly updated:
>>>
>>> 1. Download and install the ld.so-1.9.11-4mdk.i586.rpm
>>> package, part of the Mandrake Cooker contrib tree.
>>>
>>> 2. Install the libc-5.3.12-35mdk.i586.rpm package from
>>> the installation CD.
>>>
>>> 3. Run the ldconfig command to regenerate the library
>>> list.
>>>
>>> 4. Follow the standard installation instructions
>>> provided with WordPerfect 8.
>>>
>>> However, some distributions (such as Fedora Core) with
>>> very modern kernels (2.6.8 or later) are currently
>>> reporting problems running WP 8.x.  This is being
>>> looked into, but there isn't a lot of talent
>>> concentrating on that problem, because (as you know)
>>> it's a very, very long dead, proprietary, binary-only
>>> product.  With reasonable luck, that wouldn't hit you.
>>>
>>> If you're talking about WP 9 aka Corel Office 2000:
>>>
>>> Distributions with libc v. 2.3.2 or above have, for the
>>> time being, broken the CorelWine support required to
>>> run WP 9.  Again, this is being worked on, but... same
>>> story.
>>>
>>> Current distributions that are known to include, right
>>> out of the box, all support libs required for WP 8.x
>>> are:  Libranet 2.8.1 and SUSE 9.1. It's possible that
>>> Xandros 2.x also qualifies, but I'm not sure.
>>>
>>> Full details can be found using the resources in and
>>> linked from my WordPerfect on Linux FAQ,
>>> http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/ .
>>>
>>>> If this makes any sense, let me know.  I would like to
>>>> talk to you about this at the Robert Austin computer
>>>> show or at Rick's house.  I won't show up if I don't
>>>> hear from you.
>>>
>>> You're most welcome to come (with or without computer)
>>> to the CABAL meeting this Saturday afternoon and
>>> evening at my house in Menlo Park. (No need to RSVP;
>>> come any time before midnight.)
>>>
>>> We're not going to have a presence at the Robert Austin
>>> show.
>
>
-- 
"Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three do."
                                                         --National 
Lampoon