Re: The problem with not owning the software

On Sat, 28 Dec 2024 21:26:49 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:

The only thing I've ever used Office for is essays and the occasional
presentation. I've said it before: even AbiWord is more than enough for
me. If I recall correctly, AbiWord had every feature I needed to write
university essays and I actually became quite loyal to the program
because it bailed me out when I had no other program to write with. It's
pretty useless for the advanced Office files we all receive from others,
but it's spectacular with any new document you might want to produce.
The bonus is that it's fast as heck in 2024. Hell, it was fast and light
as heck even in 2002 or whatever year it was.

Essays in my school days generally involve a pen and 'blue book' for exams
or a cheap manual typewriter in some cases. The first word processor I was
exposed to was WordStar that was bundled on a CP/M system, over ten years
later. It was serviceable as a programming editor. Vim was in the future
and vi, prior to improvement, was primitive.

In later years any documentation I did was with Vim. The process was we
would try to dig up a past document that was sort of like the new
interface. I'd make notes on it, the tech writer would make it pretty, I
would review it, rinse and repeat. Over time I became convinced the
clients seldom read the final product anyway.