[mdlug] [OT] Perspective

[M. D. Krauss]

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:53:26 -0400 (EDT)
Michael Corral <micorral at comcast.net> wrote:

> 2007-07-20, Monsieur M. D. Krauss a ecrit:
> >> http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198207/fallows-computer
> >
> > And think about it -- a Linux distro running off a
> > single floppy disk, no X-Windows, armed with nothing  beyond the GNU
> > utils and console-mode Emacs could do more, and more easily, than
> > the multi-thousand-dollars word-processing systems of that day.
> 
> Hmm, I doubt you'd be able to put all the GNU utils + Linux kernel on
> a single floppy (let alone Emacs :)). But I agree with the gist of
> what you're saying, that a very minimal Linux system could do (for
> *free*) even more than those old expensive "word processing" apps
> could do.

Ohhh yeah, you're probably right about the size.  I was forgetting
those old boot-and-root floppy pairs...  but I'll bet it could work on
two. May be desirable to substitute a smaller-footprint Emacs-like
editor.

> In fact, a barebones Linux system, without X, but with Emacs, the GNU
> utils, groff and ghostscript, even today puts a modern "word
> processor" like MS Word to shame. The postscript output produced by
> groff is far superior to the ugly, cheap-looking stuff Word produces.
> Throw in LaTeX, and you'd have even more options for producing
> documents with a high- quality appearance.
> 
> It's a shame that knowing how to use groff and/or LaTeX seems to be a
> lost art, and an unknown one to many people new to Linux. I think most
> Linux newbs would be lost on such a minimal Linux system. Without X
> (and OpenOffice) they'd probably have a hard time figuring out how to
> "word process". :(

I'm not sure I agree here.  I don't know how to use groff and/or LaTeX
and I am not new to Linux at all - it's just never been something I
needed - but I tend to think that typesetting (and indeed any visual
design task) is one area where GUI and WYSIWYG (or WYSIWYM a la Lyx -
say that three times fast with marbles in your mouth) have become too
valuable.  Mind, I'm not saying that office software is exactly in a
good state... I think it's a mess, including open-source programs like
OOo, but a mess that is easier to use then the well-designed but
GUI-less tools you mention.

A program that doesn't get the attention it deserves is LyX.  But the
practical reality is that most people have neither the time nor the
inclination to learn more then one such system, and nothing that cannot
interchange documents with Word can be that one - sadly.

Further thoughts?

Matthew