Re: [PLUG] Restated: My Holy Quest for a WYSIWYG Word Processor

[Soren Harward via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 1:29 PM Casey Bralla (Mail List) via plug
<plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
> Here's my problem:
>
> "I do a lot of writing and like to take great care in the presentation of that writing.  The finished output should be spelled properly, be clear and concise, and be formatted professionally.  I often use "standard" features of word processors to create chapters, footnotes, lists, and various fonts or indents to identify flashbacks or other portions of the text.
>
...

Here are the options that I have experience using, and roughly define
the "ease/power" Pareto front of document composition+formatting with
(preferably FOSS) tools on Linux.

- Write Markdown in a program that offers a real-time preview.
ghostwriter and ReText are specifically designed for this use case.
Most IDEs (vscode, Eclipse, Atom, kdevelop etc) have similar
functionality, though they are geared towards programming with MD
editing as an adjunct.
- Write Asciidoc (h/t JP Vossen; I knew I was forgetting another
markup language similar to Markdown) in a tool that does real-time
preview. Asciidoc is a bit more expressive than Markdown, but tool
availability is more limited. I have written Asciidoc, but never with
a live-preview program.
- compose and format in libreoffice, abiword or equivalent
- LyX. With its ability to enter raw LaTeX code, you can bridge the
gap between the 95% of LaTeX that LyX does natively, and the 5% that
it doesn't.
- DIY XML+XSL solution. I don't know of any FOSS tools that do live
rendering. vscode likely has a plugin, and oXygen is an expensive
commercial solution.
- compose in any program, then import to Scribus and finalize presentation there
- raw TeX
- lay out individual characters in inkscape, krita or equivalent

libreoffice (+equivalents) is the only true WYSIWYG editor, with LyX
and ghostwriter on either side nearby. WYSIWYG is necessarily a
compromise between ease of use and power of control. It's just one
spot on the Pareto front. But there's a reason that these programs are
so overwhelmingly popular that most computer users don't even know
there are other ways to compose documents.

I haven't seen Scribus mentioned yet. It's heavy DTP. It's what I use
when I really, really need to make sure that every character is in the
right place, down to the micrometer. I do this only if I'm outputting
to PDF, because no other format will preserve the layout with that
level of fidelity.

If I'm formatting a document for print presentation and I can't
wrangle LaTeX into doing what I want, then I use Scribus. If I'm
formatting a document for screen presentation, then I don't worry much
about layout because whatever program is doing the rendering is gonna
do its own thing with the layout.

-- 
Soren Harward
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