Re: Wordperfect files in linux

[Ted Harding]

On 10-Oct-97 C.L. Daugaard wrote:
>Status:   
>
>I thought all that was being asked for was a program to read WP files,
>not write them.  Even "M$" makes available a program to read MS Word
>files.
>
>C.L. Daugaard
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]

It depends what you want to include in "read" and "WordPerfect files". If
you know the file will contain only text requiring ASCII characters, then
even "strings WPfile" will give it to you, admittedly in a form requiring
editing before it looks decent.

But once it may contain WP "specials" (other charsets, styles, figures,
equations, tables ... ) then a non-WP solution is at best rough and
ready. The same applies to MS Word documents (why, even MS word is
sometimes at best ropugh and ready for an MS Word document if it was
prepared on different version).

However, if you want to go down the "reader" road, then "wp2latex" could
be tried, and adapted for other-than-latex (e.g. to output plain text if
that is all that is required). It does a moderately good job on simple
documents, and may be adequate for the occasional one-off job. There is a
Linux port by [EMAIL PROTECTED] (zachary brown) of the DOS version
which is on
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/wp2latex and
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/wp2latex-5_1
I can send a copy if required. However, I have yet to see a "reader"
which does a clean job on a WordPerfect document.

Similar remarks apply to MS Word "readers" ("word2x", "catdoc" etc).

Best wishes,
Ted.

E-Mail: Ted Harding <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 11-Oct-97   Time: 01:14:01



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Debian libc5 to libc6 Mini-HOWTO (regular posting, updated)

[Scott K. Ellis]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-

  Debian libc5 to libc6 Mini-HOWTO
  Scott K. Ellis, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  $Id: libc5-libc6-Mini-HOWTO.sgml,v 2.8 1997/10/11 03:02:12
  storm Exp $

  1.  Introduction

  The Debian project is currently in the process of putting together the
  next release of the Debian system.  This version will utilize the new
  libc6, a replacement for the prior libc5 which includes many
  enhancements and brings the Linux C library back into sync with the
  GNU project.  We are doing this in a way to allow you to continue to
  utilize your older software by providing development and operating
  environments for both C libraries.  However, all packages in the new
  release will be linked with the new C library.  This has made it
  slightly more difficult to install packages from the unstable branch
  of our development tree into a working system.  There is a slight
  possibility of making your system unbootable in the process, this
  guide is intended to help you avoid such problems.

  1.1.  Recent Changes:

  o  Note about vthunk change with glibc 2.0.5c.

  o  Seperated bash upgrade from required upgrade.

  o  Note on how to upgrade via dpkg-ftp.

  o  Notes about NIS and libgdbm (perl) issues.

  o  Note about libc6-based e2fsck being bad for large partitions.

  1.2.  Finding updates

  The latest version of this Mini-HOWTO should be available in the
  following locations:

  o  

  o  

  o  

  o  

  o  

  1.3.  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This Mini-HOWTO is covered by the copyright of and may be further
  redistibuted under the same terms as other HOWTOs from the LDP.

  As always, this document comes with NO WARRANTY.  These comments are
  based on my personal experience and experimentation.  While this
  worked for me off a freshly installed v1.3.1 system, you mileage may
  vary.  Please send any comments or corrections to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

  2.  Requirements

  2.1.  Minimum Requirements

  The minimum list of packages to install to be able to run unstable-
  branch packages is below.  Install these packages one at a time in
  exactly the order listed.  When versions are mentioned, that is a
  minimum suggested version, any later version should also be
  acceptable.

  o  ldso_1.9.5-1

  o  libc6_2.0.4-1

  2.2.  Upgrading bash

  While you can install many libc6 package with just ldso and libc6, you
  will probably want to upgrade a few other packages as well.  Since
  bash-2.01 fixes problems experienced with Netscape and helper
  applications, it is one of the more likely packages to need updated.
  However, it is also one of the few packages that is capable of
  rendering your system useless if upgraded incorrectly.  Install the
  packages below one at a time in exactly the order listed.

  IMPORTANT: If you use dselect to do the initial upgrade of these
  packages, there is a very good possibility of breaking bash and
  therefore making your system unusable.

  o  ncurses3.0_1.9.9e-2

  o  ncurses3.4_1.9.9g-3

  o  libreadline2_2.1-4

  o  libreadlineg2_2.1-4

  o  bash_2.01-2

  2.3.  Other Suggested Packages

  These packages are not absolutely essential for the functioning of the
  packages in unstable, but are still very useful.  The new dpkg-dev may
  be necessary for unpacking source archives from unstable, and the new
  dpkg-ftp is needed if you wish to use the ftp method of dselect to
  upgrade your system to the unstable distribution.

  o  libg++272_2.7.2.5-2

  o  dpkg_1.4.0.19

  o  dpkg-dev_1.4.0.19

  o  dpkg-ftp_1.4.9

  2.4.  Other Possible Conflicts

  Since perl is used in many package installation scripts, problems with
  with library upgrades may temporarily break perl, which may break
  other package installations.  To be safe, install the new libgdbm1 and
  then the new libgdbmg1 packages by hand before upgrading perl.

  3.  Development

  If you wish to do libc6 development, you should first purge all the
  '-dev' packages on your system, the new development system will use
  packages with the suffix '-dev' for libc6 development and '-altdev'
  for libc5 development.  You will wish to install the latest libc5
  package, and altgcc if you wish continue to do libc5 development as
  well.  Some libraries haven't been recompiled for the new libc6 yet,
  check that all your vital libraries are available before upgrading.
  Linking libc5-based libraries with libc6-based programs will have
  unpredictable results.

  4.  Concerns

  4.1.  Upgrading to libc6_2.0.5c-0.1

  Due to a change in the vthunk handling code in libc6 and libg++, you
  must upgrade to at least libg++272_2.7.2.8-0.1 when upgrading libc6.

  4.2.  Upgrading bash

  

Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[John Goerzen]

I've had nothing but good luck with Seagate and Western Digital.
Conner, I agree has horrible problems.

Simon Karpen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> Right now, my personal system has a Micropolis Stinger (5400rpm 4.3GB,
> Ultra SCSI), and hasn't had any problems. The drive is a bit noisy, but
> seems to be very solid. I've never had any real problems with Quantum drives,
> but I can say to stay away from any form of Conner/Seagate/Western Digital
> drives. The failure rates are *horrible*. I've also heard many good things
> about the recent IBM drives.
> 
> Simon Karpen  
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Fixing Unix is easier than living with NT."
>   --Larry McVoy
> 
> 
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John Goerzen  | Running Debian GNU/Linux (www.debian.org)
Custom Programming| Debian GNU/Linux is a free replacement for
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Re: Wordperfect files in linux

[Manoj Srivastava]

Hi,
>>"Ted" == Ted Harding <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

Ted> On 10-Oct-97 G. Kapetanios wrote:

>> Does anyone know of a program that will read WP files in linux ??

Ted> Yes. It is called WordPerfect. WordPerfect-6.0 (Novell) for Linux
Ted> has been available for a good while from Caldera
Ted> (http://www.caldera.com), and WordPerfect-7.0 for Linux (Corel)
Ted> has recently been issued (ported by Software Development Corp --
Ted> http://www.sdcorp.com).

But what if he does not want the whole bloated word processor
 thingy? What if he has no desire to compose anything with WP ever?
 Why should he have to pay for all that unrequired functoinality to
 read one blipping file, which someone sent to him, and he needs to
 look at? 


Ted> The following remarks may not apply to George Kapetanios (and I
Ted> apologise in advance if by chance they cause offence): While it
Ted> is wonderful to have the Linux OS available both freely and for
Ted> free, and while it is also wonderful to have so much high-quality
Ted> free software available on the Net, there are certain types of
Ted> applications which are not as yet well served by the free-ware
Ted> resources. These tend to be in the "Office/Business" area,
Ted> including databases, word processors, spreadsheets, accounting,
Ted> project management, and the more sophisticated CAD/DTP
Ted> applications.

You sir, have a chip on your shoulder. I need to look at some
 Word files that some one sent me, there is a perfectly
 reasonable program available that converts the proprietary format to
 TeX, which I can handle. Should I have to pay miscrosoft and Sun for
 this? 

Ted> If you need to handle this sort of thing, you would pay good
Ted> money for them if your OS was DOS/Win, just to get the programs
Ted> you need to do the job.

No, you pays the money for *all* the functionality of the
 wordprocessor. Not just to convert the files into a more reasonable
 (free) format.

Ted> Sorry for the sermon ...

Make sure the sermon is justified before wasting bandwidth.

manoj
 who is pretty sure *his* sermon is justified.
-- 
 "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." Author Unknown
Manoj Srivastava   mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Mobile, Alabama USAhttp://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>


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Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[Bruce Perens]

Although I don't have a 4GB one, I have had good luck with the smaller Quantum
Fireball IDE drives. My Western Digital drives have had squeaky bearings right
out of the box. Although some have reported problems with them, my Conner SCSI
drive has been OK, and I think I have a Conner IDE that's OK too. My new 2.1GB
laptop drive is a Seagate, and that works fine so far.

Thanks

Bruce
-- 
Can you get your operating system fixed when you need it?
Linux - the supportable operating system. http://www.debian.org/support.html
Bruce Perens K6BP   [EMAIL PROTECTED]   NEW PHONE NUMBER: 510-620-3502


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Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[Simon Karpen]

Which WD drives have you had good luck with?

I have yet to see a recent one last more than a year...

--Simon

On 10 Oct 1997, John Goerzen wrote:

> I've had nothing but good luck with Seagate and Western Digital.
> Conner, I agree has horrible problems.
> 
> Simon Karpen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> 
> > Right now, my personal system has a Micropolis Stinger (5400rpm 4.3GB,
> > Ultra SCSI), and hasn't had any problems. The drive is a bit noisy, but
> > seems to be very solid. I've never had any real problems with Quantum 
> > drives,
> > but I can say to stay away from any form of Conner/Seagate/Western Digital
> > drives. The failure rates are *horrible*. I've also heard many good things
> > about the recent IBM drives.
> > 
> > Simon Karpen
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > "Fixing Unix is easier than living with NT."
> > --Larry McVoy
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . 
> > Trouble?  e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
> > 
> 
> -- 
> John Goerzen  | Running Debian GNU/Linux (www.debian.org)
> Custom Programming| Debian GNU/Linux is a free replacement for
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] | DOS/Windows -- check it out at www.debian.org.
> --+--
> Notice: You may purchase the right to send me unsolicited commercial e-mail
> ("spam") for the fee of $500 (USD) per message.  Billing can be either
> pre-arranged or can occur automatically after the reception of a spam.
> Failure to pay will be treated in accordance to US Code, title 47, sec. 227,
> which allows unsolicited e-mail to be punishable by action to recover actual
> monetary loss or $500, whichever is greater, per violation.  Sending spam
> to me without payment constitutes unauthorized access to my mail daemon,
> which is in violation of federal law.
> 

Simon Karpen
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Those that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Ben Franklin


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Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[Simon Karpen]

I have had bad and good luck with conner IDE, actually; a CFA series 528MB
drive that's 3yr old and still going strong, but a CFS series (slower,
cheaper) 850 that died after about a year.

RPI ACM (not speaking for them) has had a relatively recent (18mo old?)
Conner 2GB SCSI drive have problems that were fixed (i think) by 
exchanging it for a new drive. (either that or a format; i know it was getting
errors and a new one came back a good while later w/o errors)

Seagates tend to least a year or two than fail, from my experience.

--Simon

On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Bruce Perens wrote:

> Although I don't have a 4GB one, I have had good luck with the smaller Quantum
> Fireball IDE drives. My Western Digital drives have had squeaky bearings right
> out of the box. Although some have reported problems with them, my Conner SCSI
> drive has been OK, and I think I have a Conner IDE that's OK too. My new 2.1GB
> laptop drive is a Seagate, and that works fine so far.
> 

Simon Karpen
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Those that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Ben Franklin


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Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[Joey Hess]

Simon Karpen wrote:
> Which WD drives have you had good luck with?
> I have yet to see a recent one last more than a year...

How recent?

Looking around, I notice I have a lot of WD drives:

4GB, 4 months old
1.6GB, 1 year old *
1.6GB, 2.5 years old
800MB, approx 4 years old (got second hand)
200MB, 5 years old

None of these drives have ever given me any troubles. The only bad WD drive
I've ever seen was a very old 40 MB drive that was a bit flakey.

I hope I prove you wrong about my 4GB. ;-)

-- 
see shy jo

* This drive isn't on 24/7. All the rest are, and most have been for their 
entire lifespan.


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Re: Please recommend a quality 4GB hard drive

[George Bonser]

On 11-Oct-97 Simon Karpen wrote:
>Which WD drives have you had good luck with?
>
>I have yet to see a recent one last more than a year...
>

I replaced a WD last weekend.  I have Maxtor, Quantum and Samsung in my systems
currently.  The oldest is a used 300MB Maxtor that has to be at least 5 years
old. It sticks and makes a lot of noise when it starts up if it is allowed to
cool down but it generally runs 24x7 so that is not a problem.

WD is the only brand that I have seen go belly-up without warning.  I am told
that WD has recognized the problem and has applied fixes.


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