On Monday 21 May 2001 11:59, Benjamin Sher wrote:
> Dear friends:
>
> Below is the official word on installing Word97 or MicrosoftOffice in Linux
> using Wine, in this case, Codeweavers Wine. See below.
>
> It would appear that if Codeweavers thinks it can't be done, then it can't
> be done.
>
> I have to accept his judgment on this score.
>
> Just wondering: Has ANYONE gotten MSWord97 to work and to work
> satisfactorily in Linux using Wine, any version of Wine? Some people have
> written to tell me that they have. So, is the representative from
> Codeweavers right? Or is there a workaround? What's the last word on this
> subject, please?
>
> (Please see my long letter on this subject yesterday).
>
> Thank you so very much.
>
> Benjamin
>
> Benjamin Sher
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> Ben,
>
> You shouldn't waste a lot of time attempting to get office to install via
> Wine. It simply doesn't work due to the installer that it uses. If you
> want to get office to work under wine, install it to a windows partition
> first, and just run it from there. Also keep in mind that very little of
> office actually works under wine. Refer to the newsgroup or mailing lists
> for more detail.
>
> -Jim
Here's the reason....
Microsoft has a product, called an operating system, on which it had a
near-monopoly.
It kept the system secret, and provided documentation only on Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) to other software vendors (Independent Software
Vendors or ISVs). This meant, for example that if Borland wanted to write a
software development system, or WordPerfect wanted to continue to run its
product on updated windows systems, then it had to use the APIs exposed by
Microsoft.
Obviously it is more efficient, albeit far less secure, to have the
application reach directly into the core of the operating system for services
rather than use the circuitous route of APIs. It might even be possible to
have features that those with the restriction to APIs could not match.
THis appears to have happened. WordPerfect had 90% of the WordProcessing
market at one time, but it was eroded by the much more efficient Word. Word
did NOT use the standard APIs--it talked to the kernel, something that could
happen only because Microsoft had a monopoly on the knowledge.
And Excel, same story. Some stolen homework for people in college has become
one of the best spreadsheets for Windows....
Of course ISVs sometimes starved as Microsoft decided to compete against
them. (Anyone remember Visicalc? How about Lotus 1-2-3?).
And there is an .xls file running around the internet today--It uses the fact
that Excel works with the core of the op system--it comes as a reply from a
trusted source (take a look at this and I'll get back to you on your
question) Open it, and it says it is a bad file. That is certainly right.
10-20 days later after replying itself to every email you have received, you
are cleanly wiped down to the partitioning.
These security risks are there because the priority was a competitive edge on
other software. The inability to run with WINE is for the same reason. WINE
tries to replica6te the libraries and the STANDARD APIs of windows--when
Word97 expects to call the windows kernel and do what would be a privileged
operation in linux, WINE can offer no facility to achieve it.
End of story. Office will work with windows and even Microsoft would have a
VERY VERY hard time porting it. I have gotten screens to work in Published,
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but never enough of any package to do anything
useful.
Civileme
