WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux

Revision 6.5

October 2025

The WPO 2000 Package

"WPO 2000L" or "WPO" refers to WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux.

This package was released by Corel in 2000. It contains (inter alia) version 9 of WordPerfect, Quattro, and in the DeLuxe version, Paradox. It is based on the Windows code for these programs, coupled with an emulation layer named Corelwine. It uses the debian package format. Bitstream fonts are made available by means of the Fonttastic utility, based on the Applian font server, fontfs.

A new install utility for non-debian distros was made available by Corel in 2001. It can now be obtained here.

Also in 2001, Michael Torrie released an unofficial improved version of the Corewinel layer, and of the libaps and corelwine utilities.

The 2001 Corel install utility, and the Torrie packages (as well as a conversion to debian format of Torrie's corelwine by Andreas von Heydwolff), are available at Rick Moen's website.

Current Status

WordPerfect 9 (from the WPO suite) cannot be used on Linux distros current in 2025, such as Mint 22. There are many unresolved obstacles:

(1) The original setup utility produces broken packages on debian-based systems. The reason for this is unclear. It may have some relation to the availabilty of java or javascript.

(2) Corelwine is incompatible with libc6 (also known as glibc) in versions 2.3.2 or higher. Such versions of libc6 are usual in distros released later than 2003.

For this there is a workaround released by Xandros for their Xandros 2 distro. It works there, and also on some distros, such Mepis 3.3.1, released before 2006.

(3) The Fonttastic font server was devised for the XFree86 window manager, and is incompatible with the X.org window manager. The latter is usual in distros released after 2005.

No successful workaround for the fonttastic issue has yet been discovered.

Older Distros

WPO can still be used on some distros issued before 2006.

Distros with libc6 at 2.2.5 or lower

On distros which use such older versions of libc6, WPO 2000L will install easily and run satisfactorily. Examples are Xandros 1 (2002) and Slackware 8.1 (2002). These use libc6 v 2.2.5.

WPO 2000L runs less well on Redhat 8 (2002), because it is difficult to install a system printer there, and consequently one cannot specify the page format in WordPerfect 9.

In debian-based distros, one installs with the original official "setup" binary.

Installation on Xandros 1 can be carried out with the original "setup" program. But after installation it is necessary to edit the "wpolauncher" script in "/usr/lib/corel/bin", so as to change each of the three references to "7102/all" to "7102".

In rpm distros and Slackware 8.1, one installs with the official 2001 "install" script.

The Xandros 1 and Slackware 8.1 guests can have a printer installed (via localhost:631), and WP9 prints satisfactorily.

In the case of Redhat 8, there are issues relating to installing a printer, and configuring WPO for page definition without a printer installed.

Distros with libc6 at 2.3.1

WPO will install without difficulty, and run and print satisfactorily, on Libranet 2.8.1 (2003), which uses version 2.3.1 of libc6.

To install on Libranet 2.8.1, one should first set up a CUPS printer, and then install the libncurses4 package from Xandros 1. Next one runs as root the official original "setup" from the WPO cd. Then one must edit the "wpolauncher" script in "/usr/lib/corel/bin", so as to change each reference to "7102/all" to "7102". Then reboot, and as normal user load WP9 from the main menu.

Problems relating to the keyboard has been experienced when loading WP9 in Libranet 2.3.1, running as a Virtualbox guest, if the Autokey utility is running on the host. So one must ensure that Autokey is off.

Although Mandrake 9.1 (2003) also uses version 2.3.1 of libc6, attempts by PAS to install and run WPO in Mandrake 9.1 have failed.

Distros with libc6 at 2.3.2 or above

In general, it has proved impossible to install and run WPO on distros which use libc6 v 2.3.2 or later.

Unsuccessful attempts have been made by the present author with Xandros 3 and 4; Mepis 3.4-3; Mepis 8; Mint 21 and 22; and OpenSUSE 15.6.

On such a deb-based distro, the official 2000 "setup" binary will run to completion, but it reports broken dependencies and configurations, and leaves broken packages. Then when WP9 is loaded, it fails to run, owing to a Fonttastic issue or a libc6 issue.

The exception - Xandros 2

There is a workaround for the libc6 issue provided by Xandros in connection with its Xandros 2 (2003) distro.

The workaround involves using additional support packages which were included in the Xandros 2 cd or once made available from the Xandros website. With these, WPO can be installed and run satisfactorily on Xandros 2 (2003). this is despite the presence of libc6 v 2.3.2.

The packages are in debian format. They consist of: "xandros-libc-compat" (v 2.2.5-4); "wpo2000-support" (v 1.0-1); and "xlib6g" (v 5.0.0-1). The first-mentioned is installed by default in Xandros 2; The last two were once available on a Xandros website.

Although in Xandros 2 a system printer can be installed and will work with OpenOffice, WordPerfect 9 cannot find the printer and print, and cannot publish to PDF. Moreover the absence of a recognised printer prevents one from setting the page size (e.g. to A4) in the normal way. But the page size can be set by importing a suitable WPD document, and adopting its document settings as the default.

Mepis 3.3.1

With some difficulty, it is possible to use the Xandros workaround, in conjunction with the Torrie version of corelwine, to install WPO on Mepis 3.3.1 (2005). The same may apply to some other distros which (like Mepis 3.3.1) were released before 2006 and use libc6 at 2.3.2 or above along with the XFree window manager.

But WPO runs unsatisfactorily on Mepis 3.3.1. WordPerfect 9 cannot print, though it can publish to PDF. And there are serious problems with the open/save dialogue, and with selecting the default directory for documents. To load a document, one must proceed in a terminal, and give the command: "wordperfect [mydoc.wpd]".

Conclusion

If anyone wishes to run WPO today in an old distro (perhaps installed as a Virtualbox guest), the best options to use are Xandros 1, Slackware 8.1, Libranet 2.8.1, and perhaps Xandros 2.

Last updated in October 2025.