[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Russian word-processing

buyskes@lafcol.UUCP (Steven Buyske) (09/10/88)

	A friend of mine is a russian scholar and completely computer-
ignorant.  (I myself am ibm pc -ignorant).  She is looking for a way to
write russian exams and scholarly papers on a computer instead of her
trusty manual typewriter.  Generally these things have a mixture of 
roman and cyrillic (sp?) alphabets. Since she's a novice something
simple is better than something complicated, but anything will do.
The college will probably buy her an ibm pc, but if some other type of
computer is much better for this (macintosh?), they could probably be
persuaded.  The college also generally supports Word Perfect, so if that
could be part of the solution, so much the better.

	Thanks for whatever you can tell me.

	Steve Buyske

haugj@pigs.UUCP (The Beach Bum) (09/13/88)

In article <235@lafcol.UUCP> buyskes@lafcol.UUCP (Steven Buyske) writes:
>	A friend of mine is a russian scholar and completely computer-
>ignorant.  (I myself am ibm pc -ignorant).  She is looking for a way to
>write russian exams and scholarly papers on a computer instead of her
>trusty manual typewriter.  Generally these things have a mixture of 
>roman and cyrillic (sp?) alphabets.

the russian alphabet is somewhat larger than the english alphabet.  it
contains (about) 32 characters, against our 26.  a good bet would be a
computer aimed at one of the european languages with a similiarly
large character set.  russian export restrictions will probably prevent
a system being sent from the u.s.s.r.  [ the microcomputer is not all
that widely used (nor anywhere near as powerful) inside the soviet
union. ]
-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-The Beach Bum at The Big "D" Home for Wayward Hackers-=-=-=-=-=-=
               Very Long Address: John.F.Haugh@rpp386.dallas.tx.us
                         Very Short Address: jfh@rpp386
                           "ANSI C: Just say no" -- Me

emigh@ncsugn.ncsu.edu (Ted H. Emigh) (09/14/88)

In article <235@lafcol.UUCP> buyskes@lafcol.UUCP (Steven Buyske) writes:
>
>	A friend of mine is a russian scholar and completely computer-
>ignorant.  (I myself am ibm pc -ignorant).  She is looking for a way to
>write russian exams and scholarly papers on a computer instead of her
>trusty manual typewriter.  Generally these things have a mixture of 
>roman and cyrillic (sp?) alphabets.

T3 is a scientific WYSIWYG word processor that includes Cyrillic fonts in
addition to the usual Roman, Greek, Fraktur.  It also include fonts with
various accents from Scandanavian languages, etc.

>                                     Since she's a novice something
>simple is better than something complicated, but anything will do.
>The college will probably buy her an ibm pc, but if some other type of
>computer is much better for this (macintosh?), they could probably be
>persuaded.  The college also generally supports Word Perfect, so if that
>could be part of the solution, so much the better.

I have heard that the learning curve for T3 is about the same as for TEX.
I have found that T3 is easy for typing and proofing, but not particularly
convenient for various administrative tasks.  There are some schools where
T3 is used by the secretaries (U of Hawaii comes to mind, I've forgotten
which department), so it can be used by nontechnical users.  T3 is published
by TCI Software Research, Inc., 1190-B Foster Rd, Las Cruces  NM  88001,
1-800-874-2383 or (505) 522-4600.  They offer training classes for new and
experienced users.

Ususal Disclaimer about not having any financial interests in TCI.

-- 
Ted H. Emigh, Dept. Genetics and Statistics, NCSU, Raleigh, NC
uucp:	mcnc!ncsuvx!ncsugn!emigh	internet:  emigh@ncsugn.ncsu.edu
BITNET: emigh%ncsugn@MCNC.UUCP  or  emigh%ncsugn@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu

spolsky-avram@CS.YALE.EDU (Joel Spolsky) (09/14/88)

In article <235@lafcol.UUCP> buyskes@lafcol.UUCP (Steven Buyske) writes:
| 
| 	A friend of mine is a russian scholar and completely computer-
| ignorant.  (I myself am ibm pc -ignorant).  She is looking for a way to
| write russian exams and scholarly papers on a computer instead of her
| trusty manual typewriter.  Generally these things have a mixture of 
| roman and cyrillic (sp?) alphabets. Since she's a novice something
| simple is better than something complicated, but anything will do.
| The college will probably buy her an ibm pc, but if some other type of
| computer is much better for this (macintosh?), they could probably be
| persuaded.  The college also generally supports Word Perfect, so if that
| could be part of the solution, so much the better.

On the PC, a program called MLS does Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Russian,
Farsi, Yiddish, every European language imaginable. It's pretty
decent, requires a graphics display, and allows you to create your own
fonts or character sets.

It's $355 for dot matrix, add $150 for laser printers. Requires 640K
PC. From:

    Gamma Productions Inc
    710 Wilshire Blvd
    Suite 609
    Santa Monica, CA  90401
    213/394-8622

I borrowed this program from a friend to write some papers in Hebrew.
It's not too powerful as modern word processors go, but it is
acceptable considering all the languages it can do. I have nothing to
do with this company and this does not constitute an endorsement!

(include "standard-disclaimer")

Joel Spolsky             bitnet: spolsky@yalecs     uucp: ...!yale!spolsky
Yale University          arpa:   spolsky@yale.edu   voicenet: 203-436-1483
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause 
some watery tart threw a sword at you!!

ked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth) (09/14/88)

In article <37738@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> spolsky-avram@CS.YALE.EDU (Joel Spolsky) writes:
>In article <235@lafcol.UUCP> buyskes@lafcol.UUCP (Steven Buyske) writes:
>| 
>| 	A friend of mine is a russian scholar and completely computer-
>| ignorant.  (I myself am ibm pc -ignorant).  She is looking for a way to

Many dedicated Japanese language word processors offer the Cyrillic
alphabet. Why, I don't know. I suppose once you've made allowance for
7000 or so characters, another 32 or so is no big deal. Of course, they
also offer the roman alphabet with the various characters and
diacritical marks needed for most European languages.

Earl H. Kinmonth
History Department
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
95616 916-752-1636/0776

INTERNET:   ucdked!cck@ucdavis.edu
UUCP:       ucdavis!ucdked!cck
LOCAL:      ucdked!cck@ucdavis

casey@well.UUCP (Kathleen Creighton) (09/14/88)

Check with WordPerfect first and see if their Cyrillic version is ready.
Most wp programs which support Cyrillic languages require a graphics card
such as the Hercules Graphics Card Plus.

Another word processing program commonly used in academia (Nota Bene)
also has a Cyrillic version *including* downloadable HP laser fonts.
Nota Bene is published by Dragonfly Software in NYC and is discounted
for graduate students.