Linux Word Processors

Asia ... Documentation ... Downloads ... DSSSL ... EFL/ESL ... HTML tools ... Japanese text ... Linux ... Photography ... Python ... SGML ... Tcl/Tk ... TeX ... Tips ... Typography ... Word processing

A wide variety of office applications is now available for Linux. On the following pages I present a selection of the word processors I believe are worth checking out, both free and proprietary. In general, the proprietary products are fuller-featured and closer to what you may be used to on Windows or the Macintosh. But several free word processors are very usable, offering some unique and powerful capabilities.

Ready to Use
Free
Proprietary ... including a token DTP program

Promising projects
... some of them just about ready for the desktop

Note to users:
I would be interested in well-written reviews of Linux word processors -- especially in the case of the large commercial packages, which I'm unable to review myself.

free software
To those in the know, free refers not to "free of charge", but to "freedom." Free software such as the Linux operating system is usually available at no cost, but can be marketed as a commercial product. The crucial distinction between free and proprietary software is that free software programs have licenses that guarantee the users access to the source code, and the freedom to modify and redistribute the software according to their needs (or whims).

Recently the term open source has become popular. It refers to essentially the same thing as free software, but represents a somewhat different philosophy.

For more information, go to the Free Software Foundation ... or the Open Source Initiative ... or better yet, both.

Matt Gushee

Last modified: Sun Oct 17 11:55:38 EDT 1999