Linux Word Processors

[Charles Curley]

On Tue, Dec 21, 2004 at 08:38:31AM -0500, Ryan D'Baisse wrote:
> I'm trying to find a professional word processor for Linux without
> using Crossover or Wine.  I am simply not satisfied with OpenOffice. 
> I write a lot of technical documents and need things such as
> intelligent bulletting, table of contents functionality, etc.  I do
> not mind paying for the product.

I'm not sure what you mean by "intelligent bulleting", but it sounds
like a marketing buzzword. In which case MS Word probably has it, but
it doesn't work correctly.

> 
> I have tried finding Corel WordPerfect, but the Corel site has no
> mention of Linux any longer.  I am downloading StarOffice v7.0 from
> Sun's site, at the moment, but do not know of a single person who is
> using it.
> 
> Any recommendations?

For serious technical documentation, I use DocBook, an XML/SGML DTD
designed for techincal documents. I would also look at LaTex and
variations thereon. A lot of large companies like IBM and HP use SGML,
as does the U.S. Air Force and other government agencies, for
technical documentation.

The major disadvantage of word processors is that they blur the
difference between content and presentation. This allows fuzzy
thinking on the writer's part. It also lets the writer dink around
with presentation, which should be left to the style sheet designer.

OpenOffice.org is the least evil word processor I've seen because it
lets you use styles for more things than any other, almost as much as
DocBook. If you have the discipline to use styles in OpenOffice.org,
you can approach the separation I described.

-- 

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