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WriterdeckOS

writerdeckos.com

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Re: WriterdeckOS

#61

Post by cout »

CTDOCodebases wrote: post #51
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #17

The idea of a low-distraction laptop OS is a good one, but I'm not sure that this is necessarily the best approach. If I mentally model such a thing myself, I end up with something that looks a lot like Classic (pre-OS-X) Mac OS. It's simplified and has just enough presence to properly host graphical applications. No taskbar, no notifications (or associated drawer), no self-populated launcher menu. File manager is sp…

This is intended for people who want to use a laptop as a single use device for the purpose of writing. So basic file management and a word processor is all that is needed. WriterdeckOS is not meant to be an OS for general computing. Purppose built writerdecks are quite expensive. WriterdeckOS is a practical, inexpensive and resourceful alternative to a purpose build device. For more information on writerdecks check…

This is the main reason I keep my PS/2 around with WordPerfect 5.1. Sure I can go browse the web with Minuet, or I used to before https everywhere, but that means saving and exiting WP. And 30+ years later I'm still waiting for a word processor with a decent Reveal Codes.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#62

Post by stavros »

arkensaw wrote: post #57

A word of caution. > WARNING: This will erase everything on the laptop you install it on. Please make backups before beginning. I ran it a few months back without reading everything. I was trying a bunch of different linux distros via bootable USB drives, when I tried this one and it wiped the underlying drive. Luckily enough it was just a test machine, I didn't lose anything crucial.

It didn't ask you to confirm it would wipe things? You just booted and the data was gone? That seems like a massively user-hostile choice.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#64

Post by tonyarkles »

cout wrote: post #61
CTDOCodebases wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is intended for people who want to use a laptop as a single use device for the purpose of writing. So basic file management and a word processor is all that is needed. WriterdeckOS is not meant to be an OS for general computing. Purppose built writerdecks are quite expensive. WriterdeckOS is a practical, inexpensive and resourceful alternative to a purpose build device. For more information on writerdecks check…

This is the main reason I keep my PS/2 around with WordPerfect 5.1. Sure I can go browse the web with Minuet, or I used to before https everywhere, but that means saving and exiting WP. And 30+ years later I'm still waiting for a word processor with a decent Reveal Codes.

> decent Reveal Codes.

You and me both, friend.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#65

Post by ndiddy »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #17

The idea of a low-distraction laptop OS is a good one, but I'm not sure that this is necessarily the best approach. If I mentally model such a thing myself, I end up with something that looks a lot like Classic (pre-OS-X) Mac OS. It's simplified and has just enough presence to properly host graphical applications. No taskbar, no notifications (or associated drawer), no self-populated launcher menu. File manager is sp…

You can buy an iBook G3 for ~$50 if by "something a lot like Classic Mac OS" you'd be fine with running actual Classic Mac OS. I agree with you that it seems like AppleWorks or Word 5.1 or something in OS 9 would be a nicer writing environment than the TUI word processor offered here.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#66

Post by robotresearcher »

evolve2k wrote: post #11
dingnuts wrote: post #2

a single fucking screenshot would go a long way to convincing me this is real. considering I lost an hour yesterday trying to use an open source library that turned out to be vibe coded non-functional slop, I have to ask for evidence that the project is real and functional be presented front and center

Theres a screenshot here: https://writerdeckos.com/#usage My critique as a designer is that no typographic measure has been added (eg max-width), so it’s very hard to read. I’d suggest to them that they make a column in the middle for the text that is around 40 characters wide and Lee text flow in that. This is used by many text editions for their distraction free mode. It’d add more typographic ‘white space’ around…

That’s not a screenshot, and it has very little text to be seen.

This whole site should lead with a screenshot. The product is essentially a text window. Show us the product!

Re: WriterdeckOS

#67

Post by JKCalhoun »

An old AlphaSmart can be picked up for a few hundred dollars on eBay. Kind of a clever distraction-free text editor.

I picked up a couple a few years ago. Pretty clever in that, one way it transfers files. You connect the device via USB to a functional computer and ready an empty document in your text-editor of choice. Push a button on the device and it sends the internal text as though from a USB keyboard to your computer: speed-typing [1].

[1] https://youtu.be/xXuRZbq8-0s?si=AbLZ4DcnhpkUYANG&t=93

Re: WriterdeckOS

#68

Post by eichin »

jchw wrote: post #10

This is my first time hearing of the "WriterDeck" concept, so it's very possible that I am missing some context, but... While booting to text requires less work and less packages, it seems like it has a lot of caveats. Firstly, it will likely be unreadable on any laptop that has a high resolution screen, and frankly even some old cheap laptops have one at this point, at least 1.5x~ish-scale DPI. Secondly, obviously b…

Existing products include Freewrite and Pomera; there's also a pretty big nostalgia/retro space around the AlphaSmart, the eMate 300, and the Tandy 100. (As far as I know the pomera is the one that's linux underneath but completely hidden - it's particularly funny that it has wifi, but the only thing you can do with it is set the clock!)

Re: WriterdeckOS

#69

Post by specproc »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #67

An old AlphaSmart can be picked up for a few hundred dollars on eBay. Kind of a clever distraction-free text editor. I picked up a couple a few years ago. Pretty clever in that, one way it transfers files. You connect the device via USB to a functional computer and ready an empty document in your text-editor of choice. Push a button on the device and it sends the internal text as though from a USB keyboard to your co…

I have an AlphaSmart. I never really got on with it and will probably sell it soon.

I quite like the approach proposed here: can re-use your own hardware, bring your own monitor (I hated the AlphaSmart's screen), even hack around a bit from bash.

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