Dear,

I am newbie here, not linux newbie though; I am a writer from Bosnia; looking for help, looking for your guidance.

I have computer that is actually kind of "server" for all my writings, pdf documents, videos, music etc. But sometimes, I mean very often, if I work very hard I get very distracted. So...

I would like to know is there any possibility to turn my laptop - second one - to a simple, not heavy word processor.

What I need is very "easy" (in my mind):

1. When I turn on computer I want my WordProcessor to be ready;
1a. Word processor can vary from: Open/Libre Office to AbiWord or AbiWord Lite;
2. I want to store my documents to external USB thumb drive;
3. I do not want: Internet connection, web browsers, video, music, plugins, well, only Word processor (it also can be some sort of lightweight distraction free .rtf free app;
4. But I need serbian letters, keyboard I mean, both cyrilic and latin letters: šđčćž or љњшђжћч (every OS, every Linux has that keyboard layout);
5. Maybe, but not necessarily, some sort of explorer so I can switch between files (but this is not important!)

So, can anybody help me?

Perhaps, we can introduce some sort of new "Typewriter linux", for old but good computers.

Thanks in advance!

ZenMan

P.S. I also have "brand new" over 10 years old Compaq Armada almost unpacked with perfect keyboard! It has only 32 or 64mb of RAM... so I suppose it is not usable for what I wrote!

Once again thx all of you!

For a bare-bones distro (which sounds like it's what you want) I really like Arch. You have to manually install everything, but that means that it won't come with anything you don't want. You should be familiar with the CLI, though, because it doesn't come with X installed.

I am just a linux user, not master or someone who is able to do that; I hope someone will get me "guidelines" or even step-by-step... and maybe we can compile it to a new idea, to new linux, I am ready (financially) to support that project! From domain name to support etc.

In that case, my next thought is Lubuntu. It comes bundled with Firefox and a bunch of other stuff, but it's really easy to uninstall if you don't want it.

Dear Maples,

Meanwhile I have found this article http://www.pcworld.com/article/25923...pewriter.html; only thing that I don t won't is:

Dropbox but USB place to keep my files;
also there are no instructions how to setup keyboard for my language,

and it doesn't say which word processor you can use.

Help?

Thx

Sorry for the long post...

As luck would have it, my server runs Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS. You will most likely want 14.04 LTS. The "LTS" means "Long Term Service" which means that Ubuntu will send it updates for 5 (I think) years after its release.

If you don't want the Dropbox integration, then you simply don't install it. You should be able to just skip right over that section.

For security reasons, I would recommend against automatic login. You wouldn't want someone to walk up to it, turn it on, and immediately have the ability to delete your work. But I don't think you need to encrypt anything, unless you're absolutely petrified of anyone else reading your work.

It doesn't use a word processor, it just uses a simple text editor. If you're on Windows, it's similar to Notepad. If you're on a Linux machine, open a terminal and type
That's what the guide suggests that you use. Keep in mind that you won't have any mouse support, which might be an issue for you. Another potential disadvantage of plain text is that you can't have any formatting, such as bold, italics, centered, larger font, superscript, page breaks, etc.

I have no experience with using different keyboard layouts, but I think that it asks you about it during the installation.

You might want to connect to the Internet to install a few packages to start off with, but after that you shouldn't need to bother with the Internet at all. A few packages that I suggest you install:
The pmount commands will let you mount and unmount filesystems without needing root privileges. The upower command can be used to check battery life. Lm-sensors lets you check your CPU temperature. Htop can be roughly compared to Task Manager in Windows. It displays CPU, RAM, and swap usage. It also lists all running processes.

In your original post, you mentioned a laptop with 32-64 MB of RAM. After a reboot, my server is currently using 46 MB of RAM, and it's running several services that your "typewriter" will never need. How big is the hard drive on that laptop? We will definitely need some swap space. It will likely be slow, but it should be usable for your purposes.

So if you want to go with Ubuntu Server, here would be an example of what you would have to do to:
When you're done, you would need to do:
Hope this helps!

Note: Since you plan on being disconnected from the internet.
Avoid Dropbox since it is based on a strong internet connectivity.


A)You will have to set up the environment yourself with an online connection to install Abiword, and to make sure the operating system works.

B)Then you can stay off-line.

C)Perhaps you can hire someone to set up your laptop for you. Linux installations can be tricky.
You can also run the system from a DVD or CD. It is slower but less destructive. It is often called a live demo version.

D)a)This choice should work for you: Lubuntu.
b)I have been examining StartOS a bare bones Linux operating system from Japan. Make sure you hit the F2 function key to view the menu in English. However its language choices are limited.

E)Then you focus on your request "I need Serbian letters, keyboard I mean, both cyrilic and Latin letters."

People, this is so helpful, I have better computer then 32mb ram which I intend to use, so...

I am going to give a shot, maybe I ll post same questions, you rule!

Thanks again!

Zen

It appears to be like it's what you want like Posture. You have to personally set up everything, but that indicates that it won't come with anything you don't want. You should be acquainted with the CLI, though, because it does not come with X set up.