Breaking the Word Processor Curve

When you first switch to Writer, this claim that Writer beats Word may seem hard to swallow. And no wonder; you're too busy learning the new menus to get beyond the fact that everything's only half-familiar. And if you're an unsophisticated user who has yet to learn (to steal the title of Robin Williams' book) that the PC is not a typewriter, you might never notice. However, if you're an advanced user for whom style, structured text and long documents are all part of word processing, then the claim soon becomes self-evident.

Byfield, Bruce. Linux Journal (2003). Articles>Word Processing>Software>OpenOffice

Documentation: Give It Up; It Won't Happen

Is providing Linux documentation an insurmountable task? I'm starting to think so. The major technical book publishers have dropped their efforts to recruit authors and publish sysadmin books. Instead, they have started focusing most of their attention on programming. Who can blame them.

Adelstein, Tom. Linux Journal (2007). Articles>Documentation>Operating Systems>Linux

OOo Off the Wall: My Objects All Sublime

All of the contents in an OpenOffice.org Writer document is one of three things: text characters, fields or objects. Objects is a large category that includes formulas, drawing objects and so-called OLE Objects, but it is represented most often by graphics. All objects are added to Writer using a frame, and most of the time, it is the frame that you are editing. The object itself sits sublimely above your changes, its appearance in the document altering but not the object itself.

Byfield, Bruce. Linux Journal (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>OpenOffice

OpenOffice.org Off the Wall: It's Numbering, But Not as We Know It

Like any word processor, OpenOffice.org's Writer automatically adds numbers and bullets to paragraphs for you. Unlike typical word processors, however, Writer does not make lists a part of paragraph styles. Instead, lists have styles of their own. These styles are called numbering styles. Separating list styles from paragraph styles gives list options more room for custom settings without burying them deep in the menus.

Byfield, Bruce. Linux Journal (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>OpenOffice