Install writerperfect with Homebrew, apt, dnf, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• wks2ods
• wpd2odt
• wpft2odf
• wpg2odg
• wps2odt

Project history

The libwpd project announced its first public source release of libwpd and the ooWriter filter on 6 November 2002. Early 2003 news entries track the standalone `wpd2sxw` converter, the rewrite onto libgsf for OLE support, and growing support for WordPerfect document features such as tables, footnotes, headers, and footers.

In February 2004 the project announced the integrated OpenOffice.org filter named WriterPerfect, with packages for Ximian OpenOffice.org and plans for Fedora and Windows binaries. In February 2005 libwpd 0.8.0 and wpd2sxw/writerperfect 0.7.0 were released, with the news page noting that a compatible WriterPerfect version was slated for OpenOffice.org 2.0.

The modern writerperfect project is tied to the LibreOffice-era import-filter stack. LibreOffice's module documentation explains that `writerperfect` contains import/export filters for WordPerfect and other formats, plus wrappers around similarly styled libraries developed by overlapping maintainers.

Adoption history

writerperfect's adoption is best understood through the adoption of libwpd and related document libraries by office suites. The libwpd site says libwpd is most commonly used to import WordPerfect documents into other word processors, and the news archive records use in AbiWord development and migration work around OpenOffice.org.

By the LibreOffice era, the name `writerperfect` had become a module and tooling umbrella for the family of legacy-format filters. That makes the command-line package useful outside the GUI suite: packagers can expose converters such as `wpd2odt`, `wpg2odg`, `wks2ods`, and `wps2odt` for batch conversion and archival workflows.

How it is used

The package is used to convert legacy proprietary office formats into OpenDocument or EPUB outputs. The SourceForge wiki lists supported inputs including AbiWord, Apple Keynote, CorelDRAW, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Works, and WordPerfect.

Typical usage is batch-oriented: run a specific converter for a file family, integrate it into document migration scripts, or use it as a headless counterpart to the import filters embedded in LibreOffice. It is especially relevant when recovering older WordPerfect, Works, drawing, or publishing documents on Unix systems.

Why package nerds care

writerperfect is package-nerd significant because it exposes the document-conversion guts of office-suite import filters as small CLI tools. That matters for archivists, distro maintainers, and migration scripts where opening a GUI office suite is the wrong interface.

It also represents a long-lived open-source interoperability effort around proprietary legacy formats. The package connects libwpd, librevenge, libodfgen, and LibreOffice's filter ecosystem into executable tools that can be shipped independently by package managers.

Timeline

• 2002-11-06: First public source release of libwpd and the ooWriter filter.
• 2003-02-09: Standalone WordPerfect-to-ooWriter converter `wpd2sxw` is released.
• 2004-02-20: Integrated OpenOffice.org filter `WriterPerfect` is released.
• 2005-02-11: libwpd 0.8.0 and wpd2sxw/writerperfect 0.7.0 are released.
• 2005-10-25: writerperfect/wpd2sxw 0.7.1 is described as the last add-on filter release for OpenOffice.org 1.1.x users.
• 2010s: writerperfect continues as part of the LibreOffice/librevenge document-filter family.

Related projects

• libwpd provides WordPerfect document parsing.
• librevenge provides the common document-import filter interfaces.
• libodfgen generates ODF output for the conversion tools.
• LibreOffice embeds related import/export filters in its `writerperfect` module.

Sources

• https://docs.libreoffice.org/writerperfect.html
• https://libwpd.sourceforge.net/
• https://libwpd.sourceforge.net/news.html
• https://sourceforge.net/p/libwpd/wiki/writerperfect/