Re: XyWrite for Linux

[cld@xxxxxxxx (Carl Distefano)]

Reply to note from Richard Giering 
Sun, 24 Jun 2001 11:56:47 -0500

>>> There is no Linux crowd, but there are interrelated and
>>> overlapping Linux crowds. I doubt very much that any of them
>>> would want to work on a DOS program, or reverse-develop Xy for
>>> Linux.
>>> . . .
>> I believe (& hope!) that's too discouraging.
>> . . .
> Did you consider sending your comments (especially about the
> "other" word processors on Linux) to some of the vast crowd of
> Linux developers.

You realize, of course, that all of this is academic unless TTG
releases the source code -- something that TTG has never indicated
any willingness to do. Indeed, such a move would seem to be against
their economic interests. Surely XyWrite source makes up a critical
subset of SmartWords, the "engine" for TTG's current efforts in the
legal market (and, not incidentally, for NBWin). Why on earth would
they give that away?

The most we could hope for (and still a pipe dream, IMO) would be to
persuade a like-minded group within the open-source community to
develop a new editor, similar in philosophy to XyWrite but with its
own interface, command set and scripting language. It would be a
gargantuan task -- one rendered unnecessary, some might argue, by
the already-well-developed and ubiquitous Emacs.

On that note: Anyone here know Emacs well enough to make a
thoroughgoing comparison with Xy? I, for one, would be interested.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx
http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/