Hi Benjamin,
I too have been under the same dilemma, I need to use
MSWord for my documents at work, star office/abiword
just don't get the tables right, and I can't do
without that at work.
However, I did notice a post on slashdot (regarding
the linux desktop being dead), someone posted a link
to http://www.vistasource.com/products/axware/more
They claim to have compatibility with MSWord
documents.
Has any tried this?
Thanks,
Al Baker
--- Civileme <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 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
>
>
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