WordPerfect on Linux FAQ by Rick Moen Last Revised: 2002-07-23 1. Introduction 1.1 Nature of this FAQ. This FAQ addresses common questions about Linux i386-binary releases of the discontinued but enduringly popular, proprietary WordPerfect word processor. 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. I'd like to gratefully acknowledge the HOWTO documents at http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html, which should be consulted for detailed installation instructions for WP on current Linux distributions. Also, the news://cnews.corel.com/corel.wpoffice.wordperfect8-linux newsgroup's comments have been invaluable. I would also like to thank Leon A. Goldstein and Valentijn Sessink specifically for their valuable feedback. 1.2 The Big Picture. 1.2.1 What's good about WordPerfect? 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 1.01 takes 79 MB to launch; Star Office 6.0, about the same. (On the other hand, AbiWord 1.02 also uses only 6 MB, and KWord 1.1.1 a relatively decent 19 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. It's still the best tool available on Linux for reading WordPerfect .wpd files created elsewhere. (Star Office, AbiWord, and wp2latex also qualify.) 1.2.2 What's wrong with WordPerfect? 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. 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. 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, http://www.openoffice.nl/ (not to be confused with Sun Microsystems's OpenOffice.org project), available at http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/ . 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. 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. 1.2.3 Who created WordPerfect for Linux? 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. 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 such as Quattro Pro, Paradox, etc.), was produced by Corel Corporation Limited, alone. 2 Taxonomy and History 2.1 Corel WordPerfect Product Strategy 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. 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 http://www.geocities.com/bulgybear/wp.html) as the flagship version, and minimises time and money spent on other OSes' versions. 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. 2.2 Versions and Editions 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.) 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 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 May 2001, Corel disabled download of 8.0 from its ftp site, but it remains available elsewhere. WP 8.0 DPE for Linux differed from the boxed-set versions in lacking the other versions' font-installer module, most of their fonts, their multilanguage support, and their documentation. (The program could call up an HTML manual from http://linux.corel.com/, 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 http://linux.corel.com/ (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. Balanced against these drawbacks is supplies of 8.0 DPE being effectively inexhaustible -- despite legal questions. 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 150 fonts, the font-installer module "xwpfi" (see: http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/wpfonts-fonts.html), 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. 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). 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.) 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. 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.) 3. Technical Problems. 3.1 WP 8.0 DPE for Linux installs but won't start on my Linux distribution. How do I fix that? WP 8.0 for Linux was distributed as a dynamically linked binary, linked against the libc (C library), libm (the related math library), and the dynamic linker current on Linux at that time. Those 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.1.9.5 and ld.so-1.9.5 (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. What binary packages these libs and dynamic loader will occupy differs between distributions. If in doubt, documents linked from http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html may give details for your distribution. 3.2 How do I fix MS-Word import/export filters (the Filtrix module) on WP 8.0/8.1 for Linux? 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 http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/ 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.) 3.3 Why didn't Corel itself release any fix for the MS-Word / Filtrix problem, especially given its obligations to purchasers of boxed-set versions? 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. Corel's only comment (November 5, 2001) was "The corporation is not prepared to make any comment." 3.4 How do I make WP for Linux's integration with KDE Address Book ("kab") work with KDE2/KDE3? 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. 3.5 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? 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). 3.6 Can I make WP for Linux use TrueType fonts? No. WP can use Abobe Postscript Type 1 fonts, and Bitstream fonts, only. The issue is covered comprehensively by Rod Smith, here: http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/wpfonts-fonts.html 3.7 How do I get printing to work? 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 http://www.wpdos.org/ .) 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. 3.8 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? 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. 3.9 What is the "xwppmgr" process? 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. 4. Downloadable WP 8 4.1 Where can I find a copy of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux? What filenames should I look for? 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. However, the download is still available at http://sunsite.ui.ac.id/pub/linux/nonfree/ , http://ftp.urc.ac.ru/pub/OS/Linux/print/ , ftp://ftp.ufscar.br/pub/linux/editortexto/ , http://ftp.dreamtime.org/pub/linux/wp8/ , http://alge.anart.no/ftp/pub/Office/WordPerfect/ , ftp://ftp.scola.ac-paris.fr/Linux/bureautique/Word%20Perfect%208/ , ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/corel/wordperfect/linux/ , http://www.asker.net/pub/linux/corel/ http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/ (note UK, DE!) , and http://www.invivo.net/pub/SOFTS/telechargement/Linux/WORDPERF/ (note FR, ES!). 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 http://linuxcentral.com/ . Ditto on a US $1 CD-ROM at http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/ The filenames listed are for the default US English version: The filenames for other localisations are included on http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/Readme.html , and download sources for four of those are noted above. 4.2 After I locate WP 8.0 DPE for Linux, what can I do to improve and fix it? 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. 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 wrapper by Valentijn Sessink to fix the "Filtrix" MS-Word import/export module, available at http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/ . Last, in lieu of the on-line manual Corel has removed from http://linux.corel.com/ , you'll want to bookmark some sites as a partial substitute: http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8 http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm http://linux.corel.com/support/html/9201.htm http://octoped.net/linux/wp8.html http://www.rodsbooks.com/wpfonts/wpfonts-fonts.html http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/ http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html http://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgabe/1999/12/WordPerfect1/wordperfect1.html (German language) http://www.dalug.nu/lnx/review-wp.html http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/Readme.html (Language modules) 4.3 Given that Corel has ceased publishing it, is redistribution of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux still legal? 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 http://linux.corel.com/ 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. (I am not a lawyer. This FAQ is not legal advice.) 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. 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). 4.4 What are the licence restrictions on WP 8.0 DPE for Linux? 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. The full licence text may be studied here: http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8-licence 4.5 Suppose I suddenly need to use my copy of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux in a commercial setting. Can I upgrade my licence? 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. 4.6 How can I add more fonts to WP 8.0 DPE? 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. 4.7 How do I add additional language files (other than US English) to WP 8.0 DPE? At one time, Corel offered free-of-charge dictionary (*.lex) files for other languages and countries, at http://linux.corel.com/products/wp8/download_instr.htm , but removed them when it closed down its Linux division in May 2001. (If anyone retained copies, please let me know.) Absent access to those files, options with WP 8.0 DPE are limited to finding on the Internet a complete WP 8.0 DPE tarball prepackaged for the localisation you want. In FAQ section 4.1, you'll find links for localised WP tarballs I've found for FR=France, UK=United Kingdom, ES=Spain, and DE=Germany. If anyone finds others, please let me know. Acquiring a copy of WP 8.1 PE (next section) in places of WP 8.0 DPE circumvents all such problems, as it installs all localisations by default. 4.8 How do I add additional language files (other than US English) to WP 8.0 DPE? As the root user, copy the .lex files to WP8's "shlib10" directory. (If you don't have those files, one good source is the CD bundled with the book "WordPerfect for Linux Bible", discussed in section 7.1.) Start xwp with the -admin (or -adm) command-line option. Find the option to add additional languages. Exit xwp. 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.) 4.9 Where will we get new WP 8.0 registration keys, if/when Corel stops offering them at the page linked from http://linux.corel.com/ ? Fortunately, Corel didn't prohibit recipients from publishing their registration keys, and at least one user has done so. As long as Corel continues to offer keys (at http://venus.corel.com/nasapps/wp8linuxreg/register.html), it seems fair to give them the marketing information they gain thereby. If that facility is ever discontinued, use "LW8XW-bA8L9bjZf9". 5. Non-downloadable WP 8 5.1 Where can I find a copy of WP 8.1 PE for Linux? 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. CLOS Deluxe Edition v. 1.2 aka "Second Edition" is still available for US $85 at http://www.cheapbytes.com/ , and can frequently be found on eBay. Cassam Computers, http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~pdj/Linux.html, has it for CAN $100. EMS Professional Software and Consulting, http://www.emsps.com/oldtools/misc-c.htm, has it for US $100. 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. 5.2 What does WP 8.1 PE give me that's not in WP 8.0 DPE? Electronic and paperbound reference manuals, WP Draw, an equation editor, network support, 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). 5.3 What are the licence restrictions on WP 8.1 PE for Linux? 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. Please note that, unlike WP 8.0 DPE, WP 8.1 PE is licensed for commercial usage. The full licence text may be studied here: http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/corel-wordperfect-8.1-licence 5.4 Why was WP missing from CLOS Deluxe Edition version 1.1? 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. 5.5 How do I install WP 8.1 PE (from a CLOS Deluxe Edition boxed set) on some other Linux distribution? 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, Xandros Desktop, Libranet, 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". On other distributions, you can 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 http://linux-sxs.org/edit.html will probably help, there. 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/ . Font-addition procedures within WP 8.1 PE itself are covered in the next FAQ item. Leon A. Goldstein's HOWTO for installing WP 8.x on Libranet gives more detail: http://www.libranet.com/support/view.cgi?item=WP8Libranet2.html 5.6 How do I add fonts to WP 8.1 PE? 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. Last, run the WP font installer "/usr/lib/wp8/shbin10/wpfi" (creating /usr/lib/wp8/shlib10/wp.drs, the WP font map). 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.) 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: http://linux-sxs.org/wp8.html 5.7 What's the difference between the WP versions bundled with CLOS Deluxe Edition versions 1.0 and 1.2? 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 boxed set's paperbound WP manual is a lot more useful, anyway. Also among the additions in CLOS 1.2 was a WINE (non-Linux-native) port of Corel Photo-Paint 9. 5.8 Where can I get a boxed-set copy of WP 8.0 PE? It's still available from Claremont Communications, Inc. doing business as Mycomputerstore.ca, for CAN $70, at http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html . 5.9 Where can I find a boxed-set copy of WP 8.0 Server Edition for Linux? It's still available from Claremont Communications Inc. doing business as Mycomputerstore.ca, for CAN $600, at http://mycomputerstore.ca/suite.html . 6. WP version 9 6.1 Isn't WP 9 For Linux (in the "WordPerfect Office 2000" suite) better than WP 8.1? 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. 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. 6.2 Why didn't Corel do WP 9 as a native Linux port? 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. 7. Documentation 7.1 What books are available concerning WP for Linux? "Special Edition Using Corel WordPerfect 8 for Linux" by Roderick W. Smith (Que, ASIN 0789720329, US $4 on http://www.amazon.com/) and "WordPerfect for Linux Bible" by Stephen E. Harris and Erwin Zijleman (IDG Books, ISBN 0764533746, US $40 on http://www.amazon.com/). 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. 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. 7.2 WP 8.x's access to on-line docs doesn't work any more, saying "document not found (404 error)". Where did they go? At the same time Corel removed WP 8.0 DPE from http://linux.corel.com/, it also removed the on-line HTML-format manual that all WP 8.x for Linux programs referenced via hyperlink. (If anyone made a copy, please let me know.) Corel's remaining on-line documentation is at http://linux.corel.com/support/docs.htm#wp8 , http://linux.corel.com/support/wp8_faq.htm , and http://linux.corel.com/support/html/9201.htm . 8. The Future 8.1 Why did Corel cease publishing WP for Linux? 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. 8.2 Why is Corel still selling WP versions for other Unixes, but not Linux? Good question. Corel has never addressed the matter. 8.3 Won't WP for Linux re-emerge as part of Xandros Desktop? 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. 8.4 If Corel doesn't want to sell WP for Linux, why doesn't it open-source the program? 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.). 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. 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. 8.5 What alternatives to WP exist on Linux? Proprietary (see Chris Browne's http://cbbrowne.com/info/wplcomm.html): o Sun Microsystems's Star Office suite's StarWriter word processor. Very full featured, high degree of Microsoft compatibility. Large, slow. GTK+-based. Includes .wpd support. o VistaSource Software's Anyware Desktop 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. o HancomLinux Inc.'s Hancom Office suite's Hancom Word word processor. Qt-based. Good MS doc compatibility. No .wpd support. o Quadraton Systems, Inc. CliqWord. 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. o Axene Xclamation (DTP) and XAllWrite (word processor). Motif-based. No document import/export features worth mentioning; no .wpd support. o SmartWare Corporation (formerly Angoss) SmartWare. Listed here because Chris Browne includes it, but it appears to have vanished. o Gobe Software's GobeProductive 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. o LedIt word processor. Small, fast. GTK+-based. Supports RTF. Chris Browne listed this in error as open-source. No .wpd support. 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. Open Source (see Chris Browne's http://cbbrowne.com/info/wp.html): o OpenOffice.org suite's Writer word processor (derived from StarOffice). 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!) o SOT Finnish Software Engineering Ltd.'s SOT Office 2002 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. o AbiWord. 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. o KOffice suite's KWord word processor. Frame-oriented. Qt-based. Supports MS-Word, Anyware Words/Applix Words, AbiWord formats. Medium-good MS doc compatibility. No .wpd support. o SIAG Office suite's Pathetic Writer word processor. Supports RTF. Supports MS-Word via WVware. Athena-based. No .wpd support. o Maxwell word processor. Motif-based (not yet LessTif). Supports RTF. No .wpd support. o FLWriter (Fast Light Writer). Xhtml file format with UTF-8 encoding, excellent multilanguage support, spelling checker. Exports RTF 1.5. No .wpd support. o Ted. Simple word processor similar in spirit to MS-Windows's WordPad. RTF is native format. Motif/LessTif-based. Supports PDF, Postscript. No .wpd support. o CMU Andrew User Interface System (auis) package's EZ editor mode. Uses a well-thought-out system of ASCII + style/template markup. Supports RTF. No .wpd support. o LyX (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. 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. I can do no better than to quote http://www.lyx.org/about/intro.php3 on why this approach should be considered, as a conceptual model to move towards, in place of traditional word processors: [quotation begins] LyX is an advanced open source document processor running on many Unix platforms. It is called a "document processor", because unlike standard word processors, LyX encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents, not their appearance. LyX lets you concentrate on writing, leaving details of visual layout to the software. LyX automates formatting according to predefined rule sets, yielding consistency throughout even the most complex documents. LyX produces high quality, professional output -- using LaTeX, an open source, industrial strength typesetting engine, in the background. With LyX, short notes or letters are a snap. LyX really shines, though, when composing complex documents like technical documentation, doctoral theses and conference proceedings. The 1.0 release offers extensive control over fonts, margins, headers/footers, spacing/indents, justification, bullet types in multilevel lists, a sophisticated table editor, an emacs-style version control interface for collaborative projects -- the list goes on and on. LyX 1.0 includes many standard formats and templates -- e.g. for letters, articles, books, overheads, even Hollywood scripts. Work continues on a growing library of "plug-in" formats and templates, in the best open-source tradition. LyX presents the user with the familiar face of a WYSIWYG word processor. However, users familiar with Microsoft Word or WordPerfect may be perplexed by certain basic LyX behavior. For example, repeatedly hitting the space bar has no effect! This is by design: LyX puts in the proper spacing for you, intelligently. Welcome to the LyX paradigm! You set the "ground rules" and place the elements of your document into proper categories. Let's say, you tell LyX that a certain line is a Section title. LaTeX adds the Section to your table of contents, places the Section name into your page header, gives it a special "bold" appearance on the page, assigns it a number or label, and tells other parts of your document what page it's on, for references and citations. Many of the headaches of traditional word processing just vanish. LaTeX easily processes hundreds of chapter and section labels, thousands of footnotes and inserted graphics, intricate cross-references, complex multi-level outlines, formatted tables of contents and lists of illustrations, and exhaustive indices or bibliographies, and is rightly famous for the superb quality of its output. Users already acquainted with "raw" LaTeX will find that LyX offers full LaTeX transparency and import/export of LaTeX documents. LyX contains a fully integrated formula editor which is easily best-of-breed, adding WYSIWYG point-and-click convenience to LaTeX's legendary math typesetting capabilities. If you're into scientific authoring, this is the jewel in the crown. TRY IT! Think of LyX as the first WYSIWYM word processor: What You See Is What You Mean. All the common formatting intelligence of LaTeX is presented to the user through visual controls, like a table-of-contents window acting as an outline browser, "live" reference links (to figure and table captions, sections, pages and literature citations), automatic multilevel section and list numbering, and more. You tell LyX how to treat particular words and lines in your document: e.g., this is standard text, this is a Section title, this is a footnote, this is a caption beneath an inserted graphic. As you click your selections, the WYSIWYM interface gives you clean, straightforward "visual cues" (actually, very WYSIWYG-like). The approach has ergonomic advantages. You can enlarge the screen fonts to suit your tastes but still have all the text on the screen -- without affecting the margins and other formatting of your final output. Thus, you can work comfortably on small displays (or if your eyes are tired or your eyesight is not so good) and get the final output right with just a couple of page previews using xdvi or ghostview. LyX includes excellent and copious on-line help -- a beginner's tutorial, user's guide, and additional manuals describing advanced features. LyX's menu system exists in a dozen different (Latin character set) languages, selectable at run time. LyX conspicuously lacks a filter for importing MS Word documents. The LyX Team considers this not worth the effort, as word processors in general are moving away from proprietary formats to the open XML standard. So, as long as you need continued access to legacy documents, you should retain a traditional word processor, e.g., Corel's WordPerfect for Linux. LyX runs on standard Unix platforms, including Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, IRIX, HP-UX, AIX, ..., even OS/2 and Cygnus/Win32 (somewhat experimentally), and provides native support for Postscript fonts and figures. [quotation ends] 9 Feedback. Location. Copyright and Redistribution Terms. 9.1 This FAQ is maintained by Rick Moen , to whom all corrections and suggestions should be addressed. The latest revision can always be found at http://linuxmafia.com/wpfaq/faq . 9.2. Contents are Copyright (C) 2002, Rick Moen . Verbatim copying, distribution, and display of this entire article are permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. Alternatively, you may create derivative works of any sort for any purpose, provided your versions contain no attribution to me, and that you assert your own authorship (and not mine) in every practical medium.