[GoodIntentions]

I use plain text editors mainly and agree with the author's premise about cutting the cruft/using a focused tool. The cost complaint doesn't really fly though.

Those times When I need something to be in Doc format, I use libre office - https://www.libreoffice.org/ It used to be called "openoffice". It's free. You can verify the documents look right in the free word viewer provided by Microsoft if you're planning to mail it to someone who will open it in Word.

[metasean]

> It used to be called "openoffice".

OpenOffice.org still officially lives as Apache OpenOffice - http://www.openoffice.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice#End_of_OpenOffice.... & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OpenOffice

LibreOffice was forked from OpenOffice.org back in 2011.

And there are plenty of articles summarizing their similarities and differences - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=openoffice+vs+libreoffice

[GoodIntentions]

Thanks for an informative post. I was under the impression OpenOffice was dead post-fork. Colour me wrong...

[dredmorbius]

You're missing several aspects of the cost issue.

First: not all uses of Word can substitute other tools. In particular, if you're writing for business or publication and are working with organizations using a Word-based workflow and tools based around it, you may well find yourself stuck with Word. Charlie Stross has vented spleen on this recently:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/10/why-micr...

Secondly: Microsoft updates its software from time to time. It has also, generally, updated its document formats correspondingly. Old software doesn't work with new formats. Retaining access to both old and new works means stepping onto that upgrade treadmill. And because the software doesn't run on old operating systems or hardware, upgrading your word processor means upgrading your OS and hardware as well.

That does add up.

Oh, and you've got to update all of it. At the same time. Use a desktop, laptiop, and mobile device? That's a threefold hit.

Which adds up even faster.

Contrast with textfile-based tools. Not only are most free, but you don't require your build environment on every platform. Just the editor and whatever bits are necessary to sync.