Writing Tools (modern?)

Writing tools? Mmm...

The blosphere has made lots of bells and whistles about a Mac application, WriteRoom... It's a full screen application and a simple text editor, to write without distractions.

The boardbox/laptop equivalent of the AlphaSmarts, only simpler. Other offers have quickly sprouted here and there. Dark Room is a .NET equivalent for the Windows OS (I don't think it may run on the Mono free software framework on UNIX). Followed suitely by JDarkRoom, the Java equivalent (which is not working on my GNU/Linux box with Sun Java 1.4.2).

It's cool to get better productivity. But we have had that for years. For lots of years.

Enter the GNU/Linux console (or the Free/Open/Net-BSD console!):

a) Full screen.

b) Multitasking nevertheless.

HOWTO: Fire up VI (or Emacs; I prefer ViM, but you can choose among 1,000 text editors) and you have all the power of UNIX at your command. A simple, dumb editor? It's nice to write, but why ask for less when you can have the full screen power of UNIX, easier and more reliably???

I think we are living the Mac fad, which is Mac/Apple (re-)inventing everything again... Well, yeah. Paraphrasing the Inmortal F. Mercury: I want to break free.

ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗ

Links:

* ViM rules, and if you use GNU Screen you'll have all the productivity you need.
* EMACS is loved by many.
* Write Room
* Dark Room
* JDark Room
* Open Office has a Full-Screen mode
* Abiword has one too.
* LyX is a favourite of mine, and you can get full screen as well.

PS- Actually, this Write Room offers nothing (and seriously less than what) you couldn't have 20 or 30 years ago with any UNIX, or even some 15 years ago with DOS on a small PC (and let's not start with the Amiga, etc...).