Let’s take a look at what’s new with open source writing tools.įirst off, there’s a new writing application to report, or rather the revival of a previously languishing application. Write! is a potential privacy nightmare, and their decision to start charging a monthly fee after purchase only adds insult to injury. You can save your work to their servers, which are also vaguely described. Write! has always been coy about who the developers are and where they are located (they are located in Kiev, the Ukraine), and the program requires you to log in in order to use it.
The latter case is especially telling in terms of the vulnerabilities you may encounter with commercial software. And I note that sometime over the past year, the mystery-shrouded Write! application has made the same greedy decision. I’m still incensed by the decision Ulysses made to employ a subscription model-there is no justification for it, apart from a naked desire to maximize profits.
#Focuswriter new page software#
However, commercial imperatives drive some decent software right off the rails. iA Writer is another proprietary program that fits this model unfortunately, they do not plan to release a Linux version, and the newish Windows version will not run under Wine. Quality is the preeminent focus, and it shows. Its developers seem to be at least as motivated by the desire to serve writers well as they are by the urge to make money. But as I argued a year ago, I think Scrivener is the exception. In this field (writing software), Scrivener is the outstanding example. There’s little doubt that a dedicated commercial team, properly motivated, can accomplish wonders. Still the best: Scrivener 3 Windows beta running on Linux via Wine. What’s more, to the extent that they are aware, many people believe commercial software to be superior. Yet many people, writers included, remain only vaguely aware of the distinction between open source and commercial software. Raymond famously wrote about the importance of openness in The Cathedral and the Bazaar, and there’s no doubt that open source software has become enormously influential since then-the Internet runs on it.
#Focuswriter new page code#
Last time, I stressed the importance of open source code (and the Linux OS) in terms of autonomy, freedom from commercial exploitation, and privacy.
It also gives me an excuse to take a break from my own work, and from America’s ongoing national crises. It’s been just over a year since I reviewed some open source writing apps, so I thought it would be a good time to check back in and see what, if anything, has changed in the interim. Update, : the Organon plugin for LibreOffice Writer no longer works with the current version.
0 kommentar(er)
