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:

(The ES=Spanish archive at http://www.invivo.net/pub/SOFTS/telechargement/Linux/WORDPERF/Espagnol/ is unfortunately corrupted.)

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 (one 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://web.archive.org/web/20030821125611/http://content.443.ch/pub/linfiles/Gnusoft/wordperfect8/Readme.html, and download sources for all nine localisation archives are noted above.

4.2. After I locate WP 8.0 DPE for Linux, how do I install it, and 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 -- or someone operating on its behalf (CNET's download.com staff?) -- grotesquely botched the packaging. However, note that some sites will have repacked the contents (variously), often out of a desire to correct Corel's error. Therefore, when in doubt, use the Linux "file" utility to determine what you're working with.

After unpacking (and reading the Readme file), you'll have to furnish the dynamic libraries WP 8.0 requires: ld-linux.so.1.9.5, libc5 (any version from 5.3.12 through 5.4.46) with matching libm.so.5.*, and a set of X11 backwards-compatibility libraries compiled for libc5 X11 clients (libXt.so.6, libX11.so.6, libXpm.so.4, libSM.so.6, and libICE.so.6). These will probably be optional packages for your distribution, not installed by default. Only then should you run "sh Runme", as directed by the Readme. Caveat: If some of the libs are not present, you may think installation has succeeded, but will then encounter any of a variety of strange symptoms. Therefore, make certain, as follows:

In an X11 terminal, do "su -" to become the root user temporarily. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libc.so.5", which must show some libc version from 5.3.12 through 5.4.46. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libm.so.5". This must show a libm version of 5*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libXt.so.6", which must show some libXt version of 6.0*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libX11.so.6", which must show some libX11 version of 6.1*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libXpm.so.4", which must show some libXpm version of 4.11*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libSM.so.6", which must show some libSM.so.6.0*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libICE.so.6", which must show some libICE.so.6.3*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep ld-linux.so.1". This must return a ld-linux version of 1.*. Type "ldconfig -v | grep libsafe", which ideally will show null results. (If not, see FAQ section "How do I stop the WP 8.x installer from getting diagnostic message '../install.wp: [: 18-10: integer expression expected' followed a short while later by termination with a Segmentation Fault error?") You've now confirmed that necessary libraries are installed and known to the dynamic linker/loader. (Unfortunately, the five X11 libraries found by the above process might be compiled for more-modern glibc2 aka libc6 clients, not libc5 ones -- and one set cannot substitute for the other. A good sign is if you get two lines of return values for each of the five ldconfig lines: That shows that you have both glibc and libc5 versions of the X11 libs installed.)

If you've tried to satisfy WP 8.0's libs requirements but still aren't quite succeeding (which is becoming common as distributions eliminate legacy libc5 and ld.so libraries from their default installations and sometimes from the distributions entirely), as a last resort you can unpack wp8-libs.tgz from http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/vectorlinux/veclinux-1.8/packages/wordperfect8/, a complete gzipped tar archive of all required libraries plus lines to add to /etc/ld.so.conf. (It should be unpacked into an empty directory, as it provides no container directory.) As the root user, carefully put the libraries in the indicated directories, and then adjust /etc/ld.so.conf as indicated and re-run /sbin/ldconfig to rebuild the library cache. Be aware that these additions are outside your distribution's package regime (if any), and, like any manual change to key system internals, should be done with caution.

Now, as your last action with root-user authority, do "mkdir /opt/wp8" followed by "chown yourself /opt/wp8", where yourself is your regular non-root login. Last, type "exit" (or Ctrl-D) to exit the root-user shell and revert to your regular non-root login. (Root authority should never be used for software installer routines if there's another way, as there is here.) You can now proceed with invoking the WP 8.0 DPE installation script ("sh Runme"). You'll almost certainly be warned that your Linux kernel is "not certified". (This is OK.) When prompted for an installation directory, specify /opt/wp8. On the "Existing Application" screen, you don't need to provide "the pathname of an existing application". On the Select WordPerfect Printer Drivers screen, you should select all printer types you expect to want to print to, but will be able to revisit this selection later. (See FAQ section "How do I get printing to work?".)

Afterward, you'll want to apply Valentijn Sessink's wrapper to fix the "Filtrix" MS-Word import / export module, available at http://olivier.pk.wau.nl/~valentyn/wp8fix/. You might also want to put a three-line shell script in /usr/local/bin to start xwp by cd'ing to /opt/wp8/wpbin and then running ./xwp. Otherwise, it'll be necessary to type "/opt/wp8/wpbin/xwp" to start the program.

Last, in lieu of the on-line manual Corel has removed from http://linux.corel.com/wp8manual (and, in fact, Corel decommissioned that entire site on Feb. 26, 2003), you'll want to bookmark some sites as a partial substitute:

4.3. Given that Corel has ceased publishing it, is redistribution of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux still lawful?

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/products/linuxproducts_wp8_downloadlinks.htm (that site having been decommissioned as of Feb. 26, 2003) and elsewhere (including CD-ROM WP 8 copies, boxed-set versions of SuSE Linux through 6.1, Caldera Open Linux 2.3, older boxed sets of Linux-Mandrake etc.), you'll notice its licence omits the right to redistribute, and says the recipient's licence is non-transferable. 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 or other licence grants that 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 or Standard Edition for its copy of WP 8.1.

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 (though maybe not if that older version is a lawful copy and used nowhere else).

4.7. How do I add additional language files (other than US English) to WP 8.0 DPE (or the 2003-4 "pilot project" re-release)?

At one time, Corel offered free-of-charge localisation add-ons for nine other languages and countries, at http://linux.corel.com/products/wp8/download_instr.htm, but removed them not long after it closed down its Linux division in May 2001, and decommissioned that entire site on Feb. 26, 2003.

However, in FAQ section "Where can I find a copy of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux?", you'll find links for all nine additional-language tarballs. Corel used a rather cryptic file-naming scheme. The standard large-format (single-piece) archives were named GUILGXX0.gz, where "GUI" seems to have indicated that this was for an X11 / graphical WP version, "LG" signified large format, and XX was one of the nine language / country codes: FR=French, UK=United Kingdom English, DE=German, ES=Spanish, CE=Canadian English, CF=Canadian French, OZ=Australian English, NL=Dutch, and IT=Italian. Alternatively, you could get a set of from four to six archive files for your language / country in split format, named GUIXXNN.gz, e.g., GUINL00.gz through GUINL03.gz for Dutch. The split-format files have become very rare, but are sometimes findable on the Internet.

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".

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.)

If you get errors about libm.so.5 being missing when you run the language module's Runme script, see FAQ section "Can my language's absence from the "WordPerfect 8 for Linux" re-release be fixed?" for the fix (adding the relevant library path to your dynamic linker/loader's search list).

4.8. Where will we get new WP 8.0 registration keys, if / when Corel stops offering them at the page linked from http://venus.corel.com/nasapps/wp8linuxreg/register.html?

Fortunately, Corel didn't prohibit recipients from publishing their registration keys, and at least four users have done so. As long as Corel continues to offer keys (at http://venus.corel.com/nasapps/wp8linuxreg/register.html or http://nas.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", "LW8XW-NfDyZN1HfZ", "LW8XW-9K87F9tldF", or "LW8XW-nEqIHnZrcH".