Tavis Ormandy ports WordPerfect for UNIX to Linux

Just a few months after running Lotus 1-2-3, originally built for the UNIX platform, on a modern Linux operating system, Tavis Ormandy, a member of the Google Project Zero team and white hat hacker, has now ported the classic UNIX version of WordPerfect 7 word processing software from the 1990s to Linux.

WordPerfect 7 for UNIX / 2022 Linux Terminal Port

Tavis Ormandy has even packaged it in a .DEB package for users of Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Debian to sample:

https://github.com/taviso/wpunix

Since WordPerfect has almost no external dependencies, we didn't expect any updates to this Linux application that has been traversed from 1997.

As the original "text mode" version, it can be invoked not only in a terminal window, but also run on the Linux console.

Unlike Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect was not originally a non-DOS application, but was written on a Data General minicomputer.

It was later ported to many operating systems, including DEC OpenVMS, OS/2, NeXTstep, Atari ST, and Commodore Amiga, as well as Apple II, IIGS, and classic MacOS.

In addition to these platforms, there are various proprietary UNIX versions, including SCO Xenix - which is where Ormandy landed with this Linux port.

This means that as a character mode application, WordPerfect can run on the exact hardware terminal, such as the Wyse 60, or the console of the SCO Xenix server.

It should be noted that for Xenix, the X Window System is an expensive optional accessory that most customers never purchase.

Fully graphical WordPerfect 8 for modern Linux

Before WordPerfect 5, the program had a very special user interface (UI) and required the use of a large number of function keys - each key was individually defined, complemented by complex combinations of Shift, Alt or Ctrl+Shift, Alt+Ctrl and so on.

Without a function guide at hand, WordPerfect is difficult to use. Desperate users even made a special photocopy, then trimmed and collaged a copy by hand.

If you are planning to install a retro version of the 1990s software ported from Ormandy, remember that F1 is for 'duplicate characters' and F3 is for help.

Also the drop-down menu is the Esc+= key combination, not Alt, F10, or any of the other common ones used in DOS applications.

After WordPerfect 7, however, WordPerfect Corp didn't stop working either, but introduced the WordPerfect 8 series adapted to the 1990s Linux GUI.

Although the square layout seems less elegant, at least it is complete in terms of functionality. In addition to the 8.0 / 8.1 versions, there is an official free download, use and share option.

There are also SKUs distributed with major Linux distributions, such as Corel LinuxOS, SUSE Linux and Caldera OpenLinux.