“If you’re coming into Linux with a Microsoft Windows or Apple
Mac OS background, or from some other non-Unix computing
environment, you probably have a notion of how you perform all the
tasks that we generally group under the category of word
processing. In this column, I’d like to show you the Linux way of
doing things, which is a little different, but can still
accommodate you and in fact expand your capabilities.”
“People often complain that there isn’t a word processor for
Linux. While that isn’t so — even commercial favorites such as
WordPerfect are available, and have been for years — the standard
personal computing paradigm known as “word processing” has never
really taken off in Linux, or with Unix-like operating systems in
general. The reason is because a monolithic, specialized
application such as a word processor is in opposition to the
generalized, tools-based and plain-text philosophy of Linux.”
“But as it turns out, there are word processors available for
Linux — so before going further, I will list some to get you
going, if a word processor is what you’re really after.”