Text-Console Based Word Processing?

chipperdog asks: "I am looking for an activly maintained console based word processor, similar to what one could find with Appleworks, from the Apple // era (Prodos 8 version, pre-//gs), or even one comparable to DOS versions of WP and Microsoft Word. An open-source one that compiles and runs in Linux would be best, although it would be nice to find one that could run on a 486DX2 50MHz with 8MB. A Google and Freshmeat search only turned up editors that seem to lack some of the necessary word processing features I am seeking. Although I mostly use VI (and *TEX when necessary), some no-so-geeky end users need the quasi-WSIWYG interface."

Comments

Wordperfect for DOS, $70

[Hobart]

Looks like you can go buy Wordperfect 10 for Windows in a family pack for $49 - $20 holiday discount from corel, then go Here to buy a legal $40 copy of the Wordperfect 5.1 floppies that you are then entitled to use.

Many Wordperfect DOS tips here.

This Ask Slashdot answer provided to you by Google, like most of them. ;)

groff

[4of12]

has what you need.

It has a legacy stretching back further than TeX and is used for man page formatting on tty devices.

You can format the output to higher resolution devices if you wish. There's even some work afoot to make it output html, which I think has a lot of potential for helping me to stop worrying about my MANPATH

Re:just use pico

[V. Mole]

And when did pico become a WYSIWYG word-processor? Read the question!

I think it's a dead end. Either run DOS and find old copies of MS Word 2 (which was a great product...), or get slightly more powerful machines and run something like lyx. Or teach people how to use nroff/groff -- probably easier for non-geeks than TeX.

Re:WordPerfect 8 for Linux (?)

[Alan Shutko]

The free download didn't come with the console version. The server edition did (which was a bit more expensive than the normal edition).

wordperfect for SCO?

[hatless]

Maybe the old 5.1 or 6.x versions of WordPerfect for SCO Unix will work even on modern Linuxes. There's an old HOWTO. Check Google. Some DOS word processors like WordPerfect, XyWrite and the like might work under emulation, but getting a SCO one wotking wouldn't feel like emulation when it comes to things like navigating the filesystems, running multiuser, and using colors to signify formatting over terminal emulation.

I'm not sure "non-geeky users" are going to be keen on any console-mode word processor, no matter how capable it is, though. I guess you know your users best.

Try VDE

[netringer]

VDE by Eric Meyer is an amazingly fast and powerful, RAM resident editor written in Assembler. Take a look and see if it meets your needs. VDE would perform well on a 8086 class PC with minimal RAM

The main limitation of VDE is file size. Because it loads the entire file into a page of memory, VDE can only work with a file of up to 64MB in size. To get around this limitation VDE is designed to easily work with files split into smaller chunks.

You could run it over FreeDOSor UNIX.

PC-Write?

[Lumpish Scholar]

There was an MS-DOS shareware product -- in fact, it was the product for which the word "shareware" was coined, and by a guy who'd been Microsoft employee number 9, no less -- called PC-Write. It was a lightweight (fit on a floppy), blindingly fast (even on an original 4.77 MHz 8088) quasi-WYSIWYG word processor. I tried it, I paid for it, I used it a lot. With a little care, you could do fairly close to WYSIWYG editing of plain ASCII files.

The author (Bob Wallace) passed away September 29, 2002. His company is long gone, as is the company his product was sold to.

It looks as if you can download version 3.04 here. Halfway down this page you'll find version 4.15. The Pascal source code was available at one point; it's probably disappeared.

A similar product, "Breeze Word Processor," appears to be available here. This is a four year old (to the day!) Netnews discussion of lightweight MS-DOS word processor packages. Your very best bet might be an MS-DOS or Windows 3.x version of WordPerfect or Microsoft Word.

None of these are actively supported.-(

In this day when people lightly port Sim City and Civilization to PDAs and phones and web browsers, it shouldn't be that hard to recreate one of these.

P.S.: What OS is your 8 MB system running?

Re:PC-Write?

[chipperdog]

I'm running Linux, Slackware distribution version 7.1, 2.2.18 Kernel, with the full glibc (not the u one mentioned in another /. article), installed via zipslack, using a rescue floppy with unzip.
Works quite well, even X works fine, although some local X apps get slow, it works fine as a remote "X-terminal" across a ssh tunnel.
Mostly work in Virtual Consoles though. I usually have Lynx runnning on one (usually reading /.), Pine in another, Tac (an AIM client) in another, VI or JStar in another, (depending on if I'm programming or writing a letter), and maybe an ssh session in another. Fetchmail, Sendmail, Cron are running in the background.
I have lynx configured to show image links so I can see images with SEEJPEG using SVGALIB.The only time I notice any slowdown in the system (other than running X appps) is when PINE is sorting my mailbox (It is getting large), or Lynx in rendering a >200k webpage, or when SEEJPEG is decoding an image.
The only reason I ask the question is because my wife uses the computer also and is doesn't like the current editors. I remember some good word processing packages back (15-20 years ago) in my Apple // days (Appleworks, MouseWord, MouseWrite, and few others whose names leave my mind), and there seem to be none of those (text mode ones) left. I tempted to run an Apple // emulator and run some of those (if my media is still readable).
I should try PC-Write in FreeDos using DOSEMU. It may be what I'mm looking for.
Of course, I could just buy a new computer, but what fun would that be

Re:just use pico

[jsse]

lyx definitely a sound suggestion.

I was going to suggest framemaker, which can output latex format files(done my thesis with it, I knew I should have use vi, I cheated). However, Adobe decided not to continue its beta testing on Linux version I think lyx is the only choice for your serious, professional editing needs.(whoever says MS Word can meet professional editing needs obviously hasn't been in publishing field before :)

In summary: see LaTeX

Just use LaTeX

[figlet]

Why not just use LaTeX? It is great! It is better than OpenOffice (flame-bait??). Sorry. It is all I need. Why should I use some MS-Word wannabe?? ;-)

Nothing beats TeX quality formating. I use it to do my hair as well.