Re: Recommendations for Low Resource System

On Wednesday 31 May 2006 16:11, Steve Lamb wrote:
Hal Vaughan wrote:
I understand someone has written up a config file (forgot what the
special setting files are called) for screen writing formatting on
emacs, but, as I said, when I'm writing, I'm in a different mode,
and I just can't remember all the keystroke commands. It's hard to
explain, but I can use vi or other console editors and have no
issue while programming, but once I switch gears and start writing
fiction, my brain works completely differently. It must be a left
brain/right brain thing.

Ok, maybe I'm way off base here but why not take a different
tact. Why not come up with a text based shorthand you can use (kinda
like Wiki-style), throw something together in Python/Perl/Ruby to
parse it out and reformat for later importation into OOo? That way
you can skip the GUI completely and also don't need to remember
keystrokes, only your formatting shorthand.

Of course, this is just really a pared down idea of what $EDITOR
+ LaTeX would offer but it is what I would do as I do prefer text
editing of all types in vim, know Python/Perl and don't know LaTeX.
:)

That's a good idea and I've been considering it. The issue is one of
habit. I haven't used Abiword in a while, but I know the main
controls, like CTRL-S for save, cut, copy, and paste, will all be the
same. Ideally I want the keystrokes on the Amity to be as close to
possible as they are on the other system.

I won't know until I get it all setup, but I may end up doing something
close to this, like using GEdit, and just using a shorthand for some
indents, like ^1 for the wide margins, which, back when I used Word
Perfect, was CTRL-1 for the macro.

I've also considered something like that for emacs to handle formatting
issues before a script is printed and just forcing myself to get used
to it -- but while I'm doing that, the first script or two would be
hell.

I have one advantage: I'm not selling these scripts. They're for the
production company I'll be starting soon. That means *I* get to define
the format in my own, stubborn, selfish, pig-headed style. :-)

Hal


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