[CLUE-Tech] Reliable writing editors?

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 02-02 14:09, Jeffery Cann wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> I generally use VIM for most of my work.  However, when I need to write prose 
> (often in in text format), I find VIM hard to work with.  I love it for 
> coding, but not for writing.
> 
> I have tried these programs on Linux:  Kate, Kwrite, Nedit, Mozilla, and Star 
> Office.  All have failed me in one way or another, in particular I loose 
> valuable thoughts when the program crashes or have such a frustrating time 
> with formatting bugs and font displays that it becomes unproductive.  
> 
> If I wanted to lose data, I'd switch back to Windoze.  :)  BTW - I write a lot 
> with MS Word @ work and it's the same problems.

I am on a short-term stint doing some Java/XML. I fired up Word to write up
my plan in an outline form - that was more frustrating than any of the other
technology I wrestled with (XML, Java, SOAP) so far on this stint! Word
processors seem to focus more on featuritis rather than making things just
work for the more simple and common tasks...I find myself wanting to shout
DWIM (Do what I mean) at the screen when using the GUI tools. My favorite is
when one bullet point is slightly larger than another, for no discernible
reason. Or forcing a page break where you want it within cells...or getting
the indenting you want... 

I know it can't be easy to make a word processor to meet this criteria
because no one has done it, to my knowledge, and the "standard" one fails
miserably, IMHO. I can't help but wonder what might have been accomplished
if, instead of writing things like the dreaded paperclip, MS had focused on
more important issues.  

I hear folks (usually MS fans) claiming that MS does all these usability
studies, but some (most?) of their tools don't give me much incentive to
believe it. 
 
> So, I am pleading to my fellow authors / CLUEbies:  Get me a real (GUI) 
> editor!  Which editors do you use for writing?  Why?  What problems do you 
> have with them?  How is their presentation within the GUI?  How is stability?  
> Recovery?
> 
> Maybe I should try LyX and stop worrying about formatting.

If you do, let me know how that turns out. I took a half-hearted stab at it
over a year ago when I was getting frustrated with resume problems in Word
2000. I was not able to get a CV class to be "read", IIRC. I know nothing
about TeX/LaTeX, so that probably wasn't helping, either. :) 

Later on, I found this for resumes:
http://www.syntaxerr.org/~daniell/resume/

I grew so frustrated with Word that I moved to this solution. Unfortunately,
since some HR/recruiters still *insist* on Word, I have to take the HTML
version into Word and clean it up a bit.


...in any case, do let us know what you find overall. I find this issue to
be a constant thorn in the side. I notice you left out Emacs...what, you
don't think Xemacs is a GUI? :) 

-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at americanisp.net  
http://users.americanisp.net/~seanleblanc/
Get MLAC at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlac/
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; 
nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; 
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full 
of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The 
slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human 
race. 
-Calvin Coolidge