[scribus] Spell check and word processing in Scribus

[John Beardmore]

Roger wrote:

> <rant>
> The discussion about and request for a complete editing system in 
> Scribus , I
> feel, will continue ad infinitum.

:)   Could do...


> Yes, It would make Scribus a stand alone tool able to produce finished 
> works.

It can do some finished works already, but I don't think anybody is 
asking for 'all the world in scribus'.


> It, however circumvents and at the same time enhances  the Unix, Linux, 
> etc,
> concept of one tool for one job.

I've been a unix and linux user since 1985. I've never come across that 
notion.

I suppose it would have made sense in the days when the unix command 
line was the only game in town and piping between stdin and stdout with 
the odd tee and ampersand was the height of technical elegance.

Not sure that it's too appropriate in the context of packages like OO, 
or even presentation graphics stuff we were writing in the 80s, or 
indeed of the context of GUI apps in general.


> Scribus requires a raft of other software including ghostscript, etc, so 
> in this
> it will never be stand alone software.

 From what perspective ?  And who said it should be anyway ?

 From the users point of view, scribus is a single application. I'm not 
sure that most users care if gs is exec()ed in the background or the 
functionality is all in one binary. Nor do I.


> Therefore, whats the difference if it also requires an external word 
> cruncher
> package to spell check, etc.

Not sure it makes much odds as long as the functionality isn't 
compromised by the limitation of the plug-in architecture.


> To me the Story Editor has basic use, - to apply changes to text, line and
> paragraph styles and add line breaks, simply because
> editing in a text box is so slow and inaccurate.

Yes. There seem also to be some things that can only be done in the 
story editor too, though I'm not sure that's desirable.


> So, for my perspective, it comes to  either the status quo or a tool 
> that does
> everything textwise and simply 'puts' the completed text, layout, format,
> styles,etc into the text box rather like putting an image into an image 
> box.

This seems to impose a dichotomy that need not be there, and takes scant 
account of the needs of others.


> To sumarise. for me Scribus should be the layout tool of choice, 
> adjusting text
> could be in another capable piece of software so the developers can 
> concentrate
> on Scribus and not text manipulation within in a text box.
> </end of rant>

It sounds as if there is already commitment to improving the core code 
to facilitate such manipulation.


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Carbon Trust Consultant: Energy Audit, Carbon Footprint, Design Advice
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