[BCLUG] (forw) Re: WordPerfect 8 Server Edition ??

[Rick Moen]

One Edward Mendelson, contributing editor at _PC Magazine_, also asked
my help tracking down a long-lost WordPerfect for Linux release.  My
most recent note to him, just sent:

----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2022 17:35:51 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: Edward Mendelson [address redacted]
Subject: Re: WordPerfect 8 Server Edition ??
Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

Quoting Edward Mendelson:

> Hello, and thank you for those long replies! I should have made
> clear that I'm NOT asking about xwp, but about the character-based
> terminal-only wp. You can see this project here:
> 
> https://github.com/taviso/wpunix

Yes, _after_ your query, I saw mention about this project in Liam Proven's
article in _TheReg_
(https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/20/wordperfect_for_unix_for_linux/).

As an aside, I'm quite impressed at what Tavis Ormandy managed in his
project.  His redistribution of (an "eval" terminal edition of)
WordPerfect version 7 for Unix seems very likely to be technical
copyright violation.  I won't wag my finger, since my housing tarballs
of xwp 8.0 Download Personal Edition is certainly technical copyright
violation.

> What I'm looking for is the Corel WordPerfect for Linux 8 Server
> Edtiion CD that includes version 8C - the one that doesn't use X,
> doesn't have a GUI, only a terminal.

Yes, that is going to be a stumper.  

Honestly, I've never personally encountered, in long decades of being a
proprietary Unix, then BSD, then Linux guy, any release of "wp"
(non-X11) Corel WordPerfect for _any_ Unix.  I was aware they existed --
and a quarter-century ago, gleaned a significant amount of third-party 
information about them.  And _all_ of what information I had, including
about character-mode binaries and Server Editions, went into my
WordPerfect for Linux FAQ.  And then, having last touched the FAQ in
2005, I gradually forgot everything.  ;->

According to my FAQ, what distinguished Server Edition versions 6, 7,
and 8 for Linux (aside from premium pricing -- about US$400?) was NFS
locking and (in some general sense) multiuser support.  The bundle
included both "wp" and "xwp".  And I heard about it existing somewhere,
but never encountered it, nor knew anyone who had.  In theory, there
also could have also been 8.1 Server Edition, but I'm never heard tell
of it actually being released.

Anyway, I do wish you luck tracking down a copy of Corel WordPerfect 8.0
Server Edition (which according to my understanding was sold as a boxed
set).

I likewise have somewhere -- I think? -- an old CD of Corel Linux OS Deluxe
Edition 1.2 with WP 8.1 Personal Edition.  Unlike WP 8.0 Download
Personal Edition, WP 8.1 PE didn't deliberately cripple fonts by
omitting the font-installer binary utility, and even bundled 300 nice
PostScript type 1 fonts.  But, in my opinion, even it hasn't been worth
bothering with in decades.  I gave it up in 2005.

Oh, one person who _might_ have some idea where to find Corel
WordPerfect for Linux 8.0 Server Edition at this late date is Leon
Goldstein, one of the contributors to http://xwp8users.com/ -- an
impressive new FAQ maintained by one Peter Stone.  I do not have e-mail
Leon's address, any more, having last corresponded with him around 2005
-- but he is/was a treasure trove of knowledge on the subject.  However,
Mr. Stone presumably knows how to reach Leon, and Stone's FAQ says _his_
e-mail address is peter at xwp8users.com .  (For that matter, perhaps Peter
Stone can help.)

If you speak to Leon, please convey my greetings.


----- End forwarded message -----