Hello,
I recently got a Librem-11 tablet. I’m hoping to find a word processor like Libre Office Writer. Right now all I can find and use is gedit, which is insufficient for work. Any ideas?
Thanks!
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How about Libre Office (it’s very much like Libre Office)? 
Download it from: Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft (“linux 64bit deb” package should work). If you haven’t installed debs before (can be done via terminal), it’s easiest with GDebi Package Installer gui app, which you can install via terminal using sudo apt-get install gdebi (the you can just doubleclick on the .deb package you downloaded).
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I have no experience with PureOS (on desktop), but is LibreOffice not available via apt? I’m curious.
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I this case I assumed (which isn’t always good) there was some issue, but in any case, going straight to the source gives the most recent version.
For terminal and apt download, getting it and installing is sudo apt-get install libreoffice (you can do that even on L5, if you want)
Edit to add: if you ONLY want the LO Writer, then of course sudo apt-get install libreoffice-writer (saves bit of space). The current available version offered via apt for PureOS byzantium is 7.0.4 (vs. the newest 24.8.4 - the numbers don’t tell the whole story).
And just in case you need a third option, there is a Flatpak too for the newest option, which you can install if you have flathub set: flatpak install flathub org.libreoffice.LibreOffice (Flathub.org also offers Only Office, which may serve as an alternative).
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Thanks.
I always prefer to install directly from the OS repo, in order to avoid potential security issues (and maybe version compatibility issues?) from web downloads.
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It is, but requires 266 MB in 151 packages and the install of those uses 988MB.
Not sure why it didn’t come pre-installed. Maybe the screen is too small or the CPU too wimpy or Crimson too unstable, or no time to test.
I’m inclined not to install it at this time since I have no use for it on a tablet.
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It’s also not touchscreen optimized, as far as I know, which could be part of it.
If you don’t need the whole suite, you can install only parts, like just the writer.
Flatpaks offer a couple of alternatives with varying features (particularly for x86, not so much for aarch) - from same size to much smaller (and limited).
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I installed Libreoffice-writer from the repo. But it was too buggy to use. It’s not tablet friendly at this time. I was hoping there was a tablet friendly word processor. Ideally, something that’s in the PureOS Store.
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I’d assume that such a thing would have been on many wish-lists of all the good, bad and weird linux users everywhere. The juxtaposition is the problem, as touchscreens are often without the all important text editing feature: keyboard - hence a wordprocessor for touchscreen computer is probably a bit of an oddity. And if you attach BT mouse and keyboard, you can efficiently use the regular wordprocessors.
As the store is a bit buggy and not well maintained, it’s more likely that it’s found somewhere in the wild much earlier. If I’d have to guess, some website (similar to Google Docs, like Etherpad) is possibly going to become the best alternative, as web pages get better touch optimization already. If writing and wordprocessing/typesetting (appearance on document/paper and all the additional editing features) were separated… the user could take notes and write bulk text draft with simpler tools, only to do the editing on the more clumsy office suite, but not all have their production process optimized so. Or, take advantage of this different user interface and go totally handwritten with texts and notes (https://xournal.sourceforge.net/) and have (separate) AI enhanced OCR compose the scribbles to coherent text.
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I recommend emacs in terminal (started with the -nw option). The terminal is very mobile screen friendly, as it’s always been designed to use as a narrow window with a limited number of characters in each row.
If you need pretty documents instead of just text, LaTex is a phenomenal software and is worth learning.
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There is always vi, some folks swear by it, (or at it).
It makes me long for the days of WordStar 3.0!
Or teco on a PDP-11.
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Teco was my fav on DEC, Senator was my fav on CDC Cyber. Vi… not so fav on anything.
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And what’s the touch support like on emacs? vi? teco?
The OP wanted something that is “tablet friendly” although it’s not clear whether the scope of that is screen size, touch support or both. Or something else.
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Touch support. None of the buttons were working on LibreOffice Writer. Nor could I navigate the menu bar by keyboard command. It’s just non-functional.
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Touch support for in-terminal editors like emacs is provided through on-screen keyboard.
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That’s better than nothing but that falls short of actual touch support. With actual touch support, I should be able to select a range of text on the screen via touch. In an ideal world, touch support would also offer a bar of touchable buttons on the screen for common functions. Let me know when that is available for vi. (I admit that I have never used emacs or TECO but I assume that they would be equally terminal-based.)
An on-screen keyboard isn’t necessarily that big a benefit for the Librem 11, since the Librem 11 comes with an actual keyboard. For heavy duty word processing, an OSK is a waste of screen real estate.
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How much touch screen friendliness does a text mode app running on console need?
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That depends on whether you are the OP! If someone is going to put up “vi” as the solution for the OP then “vi” is going to need more functionality, including touch support.
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I realise you asked for a word processor, but I’d reconsider if you actually need a word processor… Are there particular features available in LibreOffice or OnlyOffice that you require and which are not available in note taking / knowledge base apps?
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