[zanyterp]

good afternoon,

i was wondering if any of you have experienced either problems (or success) with any of the unix word processor apps available? i have tried openoffice.org (mac port) and it refuses to start. and can't seem to get kwrite/kword, installed under fink, work.

thanks for help!

nick

[utidjian]

Originally posted by zanyterp:
good afternoon,

i was wondering if any of you have experienced either problems (or success) with any of the unix word processor apps available? i have tried openoffice.org (mac port) and it refuses to start. and can't seem to get kwrite/kword, installed under fink, work.

thanks for help!

nick

I have tried none of the above on Mac OS X/X11. On Linux I use OOo occasionally... for one page stuff.

My primary X11/Linux/MacOS X based word processor (more like a document processor) is LyX (http://www.lyx.org).

LyX is a little strange to use at first as it has a different concept of word (ducument processing) than most other word processors that you may be used to.

Most people use a wordprocessor like they would use a typewriter... formatting any old which way as they go. Wordprocessors do the typewriter thing just fine. Most wordprocessors are set up to use styles and templates just fine.... but most people do not use them that way. They fiddle and futz with the appearance of their document... sometimes spending more time on how it looks that what is says and how it says it.

LyX takes care of all the formatting so you can concentrate on structure and content. LyX makes gorgeous output in rtf, html, pdf, dvi, postscript, TeX, and plain text. LyX also has a best-of-breed math editor.

For me LyX installed fine using fink.

[Zim]

Originally posted by zanyterp:
good afternoon,

i was wondering if any of you have experienced either problems (or success) with any of the unix word processor apps available? i have tried openoffice.org (mac port) and it refuses to start. and can't seem to get kwrite/kword, installed under fink, work.

thanks for help!

nick

I use OO regularly at work. It works fine for me for creating documents, and viewing document. I would hesitate to use it to collaborate ona doc with someone else using Word b/c the formatting can get slightly off.

I personally would recomment staying away from anything like lyx. The guys at work use it some, and while it works fine for making docs, forget about getting that doc into a Word-compatible format later. I hate MS as much as the next guy, but document portability is an benefit of Word, and/or any of the commerical formats (WordPerfect, etc).

Not sure why it would not start for you. Search the unix forum, there were several dicsussions around the time that Apple released its X11.

Mike

[Ludovic Hirlimann]

Originally posted by zanyterp:
good afternoon,
and can't seem to get kwrite/kword, installed under fink, work.

thanks for help!

nick

I dont think Kwrite/kword has been successfully ported, have you checked darwin-ports ?

Also If you're not in a hurry abiword is being ported natively to 10. i think the X11 version works but have not tried it myself.

[suthercd]

kWrite works very well in X11. As a standalone, it loads quickly. Have you subscribed to the fink-beginners list and the X11 list. Lots of pointers and help there. Moderators on the fink list are super helpful.

Craig

[voodoo]

I use OOo on x11 with OS X without probs. I don't like the way it looks but it works.

[Arkham_c]

You could try AbiWord. When I used Linux, that's what I used. I think there may even be a Mac Aqua port, but I do know it runs fine under X11.

[pimephalis]

All of the above suggestions are good. Each piece of software has its merits and you should know their limitations before investing any time in any of them. After four years of working under linux, I can give you the low down on each:

1. Open Office. OO is a great piece of software, and the OSS community should regularly thank Sun for providing this package for *NIX users. It should work fine under X (don't even bother with the native port) and it is a robust (if somewhat slow) Office platform. When it comes to collaborating with others on .doc files, it is probably your best bet but don't count on seamless, problem free operation. I would say that getting the printing set up might be a bit of a problem, but once you've got that working it should be a dream to use.

2. LyX. LyX is a great compromise between LaTeX and normal word processing systems. It will produce beautiful, problem free output but cannot be used to create non-standard documents. Don't forget that it has been designed for use in scientific and programming environments, and thus excells at creating documentation and academic papers. For pretty business-like writing, this is not your cup of tea. Also, as suggested above, this program adopts a different paradigm from most word processors, and thus will take some time to get used to.

3. Abiword. Abiword is a great OSS project and has the advantage of being truly cross-platform. It works on just about any platform, and thus if your clients/colleagues use it you should enjoy the experience. Their programming philosophy is Word-lite. Take Word and strip out the 90% of weird functions no-one uses. Oh, and make the program transparent and light. It is nice to use, but does a mediocre job of importing complex .doc files and doesn't write them out. Very nice if you're writing relatively simple docs.

4. Kwrite. This KDE package is very nice and has adopted a frames-type approach to word processing. People tell me it resembles Framemaker more than Word. I've used it and like it, but it's rough around the edges. For example, when creating a C. V. under linux, it was useable but a little frustrating (I had trouble getting it to do the little polishing things you like to have happen for a C. V.). Under X11, it should work fine but will be a little rough.

That more or less does it for OSS word processors. True *NIX geeks will just yell at you and say "Use TeX, and only edit your files using vi", but we can ignore that response I think (in fact, that's what I do, but I'm not a jerk about it).

A final note: all of the non-Word programs have the common limitation of not being able to seamlessly import and export .doc files. Why, you might ask? Well, MS has adopted a weird file format and continues to change it with almost every service pack. If you've ever opened a .doc file in a text editor, you'll know what I mean; it's a pile of meaningless gibberish which is only there to make sure no one else can easily import or export the file. In fact, try opening a .doc file made with Office XP in Office 97. It's a total joke. If total seamlessness is what you're after, then buy Word or convince your collaborators/clients to throw off the shackles and use something else. You'll all be saner for the decision.

I hope that helps.