From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) Subject: Re: (was: Re: A Word Processor for Linux) Date: 9 Aug 1993 00:33:55 GMT
In article <falk.744644132@unixg.ubc.ca> falk@unixg.ubc.ca (David Falk) writes:
|
| All right, I've now heard what I have to do in order to get the basic
| functions of word processing out of the present Linux/TeX environment.
| It's got me running back to DOS like a scared rabbit. I don't really
| want to learn a programming language in order to write my next novel.
Actually novels aren't so bad in UNIX, it's technical stuff. I could
teach someone enough troff (groff) to do for a novel, unless you get
really bizarre in your fonts and stuff, but for things which need lots
of fonts and equations, spare me the old stuff.
I've used troff since WWB and DWB were new stuff, and install from
source. I've used scribe and TeX and have learned to loath them both. I
wrote my own system from scratch, first in Algol-60 then in C, and it
wasn't WYSIWYG, either. Then I started using Word for Windows. The
technology has just dropped below the threshold of pain, guys. I can do
virtually all of the stuff without looking at a manual, and see what I'm
going to get before I spend ten itterations getting it right. I've done
equations in troff/eqn, and TeX, and Lotus Manustript, and Scribe, and a
curse on all of them.
There are lots of UNIX tools which seem antequated and still work
beautifully, but for word processing let's get into the 70's at least,
and forget trying to guess what stuff will look like.
I have the source for my C class notes in roff, maintained by sccs
since about 82, and if I didn't have so much time into them as they are
I would jump to Word in an instant. Only the thought of retyping the
whole thing keeps me from taking that path. The startup macros are about
1200 lines long, and the notes are something like 70 pages, so I don't
have time to reinvent the wheel. It looks good and my students like it,
so I'll keep on teaching from what I have.
Note that I would like a word processor which kept all it's text in
printable ASCII text, just so I could save, archive, source control and
mail it. But that doesn't mean I'll do any new stuff in roff to get
those features, just that I would like them in the next word processor.
There's a project for the FSF! Instead of reinventing the wheel, they
could generate something which never existed in UNIX before, a word
processor easy to use. (Yes, I've use framemaker and Interleaf, you
really need the manual).
--
Bill Davidsen, davidsen%sixhub.uucp@uunet.uu.net
TMR Associates, +1 518-370-5654
C programming, training, data gathering, porting to open systems,
heterogeneous environments, computer controlled housing, custom software