I wouldn't mind helping out with native ports of OOO or AbiWord (which should in fact be easier). Not going to help with any halfassed os4alike X11 recompiles though.

As said above, these X11 solutions are no solution at all. It feels really too clumsy to be any usable at all. In this case, even googledocs feels more integrated (and maybe even somewhat faster for some things :)).

Someone just needs to be motivated enough to port the required layers to run abiword or open office for a native port.

I don't get the whining abou a decent word processor: use google docs. It is there it works and it works rock solid (i.e. OWB works rock solid, and in case something goes wrong teh google server has saved the last state of your work). It is ideal for working with different computers/OSes on different places.
And yes, you can be paranoid about the almighty google, but so you can be about most other stuff. Sometimes you just need to be pragmatic. Trade a bit of the paranoia for the benfit of actually doing stuff. If you don't trust google there's zoho.com as well (but I haven't tried there office suite myself yet, but use their viewer).
While nice, I guess a native port of OOo is quite a lot of work and since with the online office solutions there is a solution already I doubt it is worth the effort for the benefit in the current state of the community. I rather guess resources are better spend elsewhere. But of course if someone brings it on I will surely applaude.

I wonder how easy it would be to create a "native" wordprocessor based on Cairo with a nice MUI GUI, in some case like Carsten Siegner has done with his, well, "proofs of concepts" like Bilderwelten (which IIRC used Cairo), but more polished.

I had a quick look at the abiword sources some time ago and while it's definitely possible to port it, the amount of motivation needed should not be underestimated

It would require a lot of work

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[ Edited by Velcro_SP 19.09.2011 - 19:56 ]

> not as much as Fab does when he pulls out something like this

In case you refer to his screenshot: That one is almost 4 years old and was linked by him numerous times in the past in order to show that X11 is possible on MorphOS. Examples:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=426960
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=32037&forum=25&start=120#570908
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33041&forum=2&start=20#596494

> these X11 solutions are no solution at all. It feels really too clumsy
> to be any usable at all.

Just in case someone doesn't want to rely on words alone but rather judge for himself, there's a Youtube video showing AbiWord, Gnumeric and other applications on OS4's AmiCygnix running on an 800 MHz G4 machine:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7584&forum=3&post_id=79884#79884

Quote:

I agree 100% with you.

I would also like to ask the MOS-Team to remove Ambient from MorphOS because we don't need it. We have Shell and that's all we 'll ever need.

No need to get cynical. Okay "whining" was a bit too strong though. But I wouldn't rate a word processor the #1 priority since with the online office solutions the situation isn't that bad. We actually can read, edit, modify and share .doc files convert them easily to pdf, work with several ppl on the same doc and so forth. google doc is quite powerful.
Of course I would also like some decent offline offic solution, but it seems to be quite a lot of work. And since with the online solutions avaialable I dont thnk the effort/benefit ratio is too good for such a project. But well, maybe I overrate the required effort here by far But the OOo thing reminds me a bit on Mozilla/FF. For years it was some kind of holy grail, but there was much much work due to many internal dependencies not present in MorphOS holding the port back. Then eventually Fab did the owb port and made it later his genuine browser. I think we don't miss Mozilla/FF anymore.
I think with OOo it is pretty similar. A straight port is a helluvalot work. But if someone would see a similar approach for an office solution (take the core, build your own progam around it) it could be the better. I tink that's what Kronos also suggested.

>I don't get the whining about a decent word processor
Follow the tread through!

Google docs does not upload very well from owb!and even spoofing presents issues at times.
Secondly, What about offline work? If my internet is busy d/l torrents on linux, then I'd be tied up if I need to do work...at least on my network which is < 1ghz.
Lastly it's needed....what is there to get?

Quote:

Spoofing as FF2/windows works pretty reliable *here* with google docs. Anyway I am surely not against an OOo or AW port to MorphOS. But I don't see the desparate need since with the online solutions there are useable solutions at least. I just think resources are spend better elsewhere.

> Titan was having some troubles with [...] broken development machines.

Yes, that's why the fix for the expired full-version was announced to only come for m68k, not for PPC. So far, no timeout fix released.

I'd just rather us trust our fate to our own hands, and not on online solutions which rely on 2nd and 3rd party. Web kit may change, google may change, Fab's busy vacationing at Spa somewhere, sipping on someerhing...

@xyphoid

Good idea about the vacation, where do i sign? :)

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I would assume that's sarcasm.

Andreas, the demo on youtube that you linked to looks pretty good to me.

Quote:

And what would the MorphOS AND AOS4 communities do without you?

No Fab, no OWB. And then we'd have to rely on a stagnant port like the AOS4 people were ("Don't worry. We'll have Timberwolf soon" - yeah right, call me when its done).

Honestly, I think you guys are holding this to too high a standard. Abiword looks neither kludgy or slow.

@Jim:

Pretty good? I'd say is rather sluggish and totally alien - like running this via VNC on some linux box. No thanks.

@analogkid

Cairo helps you with displaying text in various fonts and styles, but thats where it ends (it's just a GFX-library after all).

Sure some sort of Rich-Text-Editor should be relativly easy but thats not something we are missing.

The real crux would be:
-Formating
-Indexes and other extended editing features
-Compability with existing documents (read MS-Word)
-Embeeding pictures, formulas etc.
-Lots more


Something based on TeX might be an option.

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Compared to running Google apps over the internet?

Quote:

AND file import and conversion, something both Google Docs and Open Office do poorly.
And while I appreciate the argument that cloud apps are adequate, I'd prefer a local app for word processing, file storage, and printing.

Has anyone figured out what the hook is in this, because nothing is free. Goggle must have some angle.

In fact, for the most part, the argument that word processing via the cloud is a valid application for this technology seems pretty threadbare.

I could do relatively adequate word processing on machines running between .89 and 4.77 Mhz. Why would I want to involve all this technology to accomplish something that is relatively simple and requires very little processing power?

[ Edited by Jim on 2011/3/28 20:34 ]

What about hepling Pagestream author instead of doing port of OO or AbiWord? I'm just asking because I don't use wordprocessors nearly at all and even if I do, google docs is good enough for me.

Quote:
...this is what I thought as well...

I have to agree with JacaDcaps. Abiword via amicygnix is not a pleasant experience. I tried it out on my overclocked Pegasos 2 (1266Mhz) and it was like a slug in treacle.

Quote:

You (and any other MorphOS Development Team members, or MorphOS users) have a standing invitation to vacation at my place any time you like. I have a large extra room (mostly full of Amiga computers) with two bunk beds that you can stay in, while you explore the surrounding areas of Southern California. You can even bring up to 3 of your family members or friends with you, just let me know a few weeks in advance, to make sure I will be home during that time.

[ Edited by amigadave on 2011/3/28 16:50 ]