Which word processor to choose for the Pinephone?

[KC9UDX]

Vim isn't difficult to learn; it just isn't simple.

[Peter Gamma]

Vim isn't difficult to learn; it just isn't simple.

Eventually for seniors, but for people like me who are annoyed since years that I have not managed yet to use my Pinephone as a writing machine Vim is difficult to learn and not simple. In fact it is simply impossible to learn for me personally at the moment, because of constant anger caused by this topic.

[jakfish]

Depending on your level of ambition, you could try box86/WINE with MS Word 97, for example. Bit of a learning curve, at least for me, but once it's up, it's up. And you no longer have to mess with LibreOffice and Abiword and their issues.

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18489

[Peter Gamma]

Great idea, jakfish. I have used older versions of MS Word for a longer period of time until I changed to Softmaker Office and LibreOffice. Softmaker has a great Android app which is a far as I know almost idential to the desktop app. After I did not find a solution for the Pinephone which was satisfying for me personally, I decided to go back to an Android phone with Softmaker for Android. It is not so much about the office application, but more about keyboard language support for instance for Swiss German with the Pinephone keyboard. This is much simpler on Android phones.

Then I have attached a Raspberry Pi with NextCloudPi which is also on the same network as my PC. Then I have scrpy which is the abreviation of screen copy which is a great desktop remote software for Android. The most robust solution I found to this date.

Isn’t it a pity that there is not yet a solution for the Pinephone which is superior to that? I have reviewed a lot about how to use the Pinephone for mobile office. The keyboard which is hard wired is great for this, and also that it is Linux. And I suppose the Pinephone will live almost forever for Linux enthousiasts. So when will we have a good office solution for the Pinephone? In 10 years from now?

I have used older versions of MS Word and they are great. The can be controlled very good by keyboard short cuts. Neither Abiword nor Gnumerics offer much control with keyboard short cuts.

To try box86/WINE with MS Word 97? What a great idea. Certainly a big learning curve also for me. Therefore it would be highly desirable than some Pinephone or Linux enthousasts join our community to get what you suggested here running. Someone for whom it is not such a big deal. This certainly would be very good for the Pinephone.

Isn’t it a pity that such a great Linux phone with such a great keyboard does still not offer an office solution which can be used for YouTube presentations of the Pinephone? I therefore invite  YouTube video makers with good coding skills to make a YouTube video about this topic.

And not to have a mess anymore with LibreOffice and Abiword and their issues, would this not also be highly desirable for all Pinephone users?

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I am a physiologist who usually does not code. And I together with wibble from the Pine64 forum I did the hard work to install LibreOffice on the Pinephone:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=16614

This took me almost a month working everyday a little bit on it. And now who uses LibreOffice on the Pinephone? I do not know anyone. And no alternative mobile office software is available which is convincing? Is this not a pity?

I currently have no plans for further Pinephone installations which will eventually take me another month of work. Eventually someone else takes over which is a bit more skilled in installing applications than me?

But I will keep up and will keep up others which are also interested in having a good office solution on the Pinephone. I have also reviewed about this topic on my personal website:

www.petergamma.org

And will continue to review there about mobile office and the Pinephone. On the Pinephone or on another device.

[jakfish]

This is what I used: https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86 , and from one of its links, I installed WINE, then Word 97 and HanDBase.

There's also exagear, once abandoned, now available again with a hacked registration. exagear essentially works like box86; I had that running on a Planet Computer Gemini.

On the PP, I run Manjaro/xfce, and box86 plays nice. I don't know if box86 works as well with other OSs. It takes a lot of downloading and compiling, however. And don't forget the long load time for x86 apps, though their memory demands are quite modest, so can simmer in the background once they're up.

[Peter Gamma]

Great work, jakfish, and thanks for sharing your experience with LibreOffice, box86/WINE and MS Word 97. This is very helpful information to know. I reviewed what the consequences of it are for me personally on my personal website:

https://petergamma.org/the-pinephone-was...year-2024/

I suppose I stay with my Android phone and Softmaker Office, and will but my Pinephone back to the screed for the moment. But I think the Pinephone as a great potential for being a good device for mobile office. I have reviewed this on my personal website. And hopefully someone who is interested in this topic will pick it up there. Especially good coders who are interested in the Pinephone as a device for mobile office.

Thanks again, jakfish, for your great work  .

[Peter Gamma]

I found a video introduction in 3 parts about Word 97:

https://petergamma.org/what-to-expect-fr...t-started/

This makes Word 97 special:

https://petergamma.org/selected-office-a...-zero-2-w/

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Does someone know, is also Excel 97 available for the Pinephone?