WordGrinder: Word Processing Terminal Style

Dmitri Popov

Productivity Sauce

Jan 13, 2010 GMT
Dmitri Popov

You may think that word processing is all about WYSIWYG and GUI, but WordGrinder is living proof that a word processor that runs in a terminal does make sense. Thanks to its small and efficient code base containing only 6300 lines of code, WordGrinder will happily run on older machines, and you can even use it on GUI-less setups.

Despite being a terminal-based application, WordGrinder provides a menu system activated with the Esc key. Users who prefer to control applications via the keyboard will be pleased to learn that WordGrinder provides keyboard shortcuts for virtually every command and action. Better yet, you can reconfigure the default keyboard shortcuts to suit your needs. When it comes to word processing features, WordGrinder doesn't disappoint. It supports basic text and paragraph styles, it offers a search and replace feature, and it can handle multiple documents in a single file. There is also the mandatory word count feature and the handy Scrapbook that you can use to store text snippets. WordGrinder also lets you import and export documents in the HTML format as well as save them in the LaTex and Troff formats.

Obviously, WordGrinder won't replace OpenOffice Writer or even AbiWord, but if you are looking for a simple and efficient word processor for drafting articles and jotting down ideas, WordGrinder fits the bill quite nicely.

Comments

  • The Missing Link

    re: "He's probably viewing the page in lynx."

    Even under lynx, the "link" is still visible as a link.
  • Getting the internet.

    He's probably viewing the page in lynx.
  • Who doesn't get the Internet :^)

    The folks complaining about no link seem to not get
    that their firewall or something else is refusing to open
    the link. It works fine for me on Fedora 10/Firefox.

    Regards

    cwww
  • Cool!

    They should use this on puppy linux!
  • re: Evidence of failure to "get" the internet

    Obviously anon doesn't get the Internet ... words with lines under them on a Web page are usually links. Like the 14th word in this item.
  • Re: Evidence of failure to "get" the internet

    What are you talking about? The very first sentence contains a link to the project's Web site.

    Kind regards,
    Dmitri
  • Evidence of failure to "get" the internet

    An entire article about a software package, and seemingly, not one single link to the home site of the package.

    Evidence that the author must work for a dead tree newspaper, because they clearly do not "get" the internet.
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