The best software for composing a thesis or novel?

Novatian · 07-30-2018, 12:35 AM

What are the best pieces of software for composing a thesis or novel in Linux or even using WINE? Aside from Libre Office?

RandomTroll · 07-30-2018, 02:11 AM

I'd use emacs, but I use it for everything. I've read good advice on how to use make to put disparate parts of books together.

What's so special about writing either?

A friend who wrote hers in experimental psychology 40+ years ago wrote much of it in TeX because she needed the special characters.

ChuangTzu · 07-30-2018, 02:43 PM

Have Fun!
https://itsfoss.com/open-source-tools-writers/
https://opensource.com/life/16/9/ope...-tools-writers

Of those listed above, I've used Scribus and LaTeX and like both, of those two, slight preference for Scribus.

DavidMcCann · 07-31-2018, 11:26 AM

Why not LibreOffice?

In practice, you may be constrained by other people's demands. A thesis must be in the format specified by the university and a book in a format acceptable to the publisher; journal articles should be plain text, as the editors like to impose their own formating; and a self-published book would be best as a pdf.

ondoho · 08-01-2018, 07:03 AM

i think the keyword here is distraction-free writing?

various dedicated softwares exist for that, also for linux.

i'm sure libreoffice also has a mode for that, but i understand that someone would not want to be hampered by this behemoth, when it's really all about creating text, and text only.