[ Thanks to Bruce
Byfield for this link. ]
“Until recently, most Open Source projects were small. They
focused on the needs of the developers who wrote them. Aside
from the GIMP, a graphics program that rivals PhotoShop for
complexity, productivity software was rare. Several Open Source
office suites are being developed, but, for now, writers may have
to choose between efficient tools and remaining true to the Open
Source ethos.”
“If you work on Linux, the largest center of Open Source
projects, you can find several writing tools; however, balancing
features and ideals is a constant challenge. For example,
Applixware Office boasts a full set of features, but it is not
available for download and is closed source. Corel Office, by
contrast, is closed source but is available for free download. The
Linux Framemaker beta is also free for the download; however, Adobe
may never issue a finished product. On the other hand, LaTeX, a
professional typesetting program, is free software, but, like
QuarkExpress, is a poor choice for documents that will be
frequently revised.”
“Online help is even more difficult. No help authoring tools
comparable to ForeHelp or RoboHelp exist, unless you are
documenting Java applications, in which case you can use JavaHelp.
Further, choices for help formats are limited. WinHelp doesn’t
exist on Linux or BSD (obviously), so the options are either plain
text or HTML. If you choose HTML, editors like Bluefish are
available. Just don’t expect WYSIWYG–most of the free HTML editors
display only the raw code.”