joann@ldc.uucp (joann zimmer) (05/09/91)
Can you give us some advice? We work in a
computer-assisted writing centre in a college and will be
switching from a Xenix to an ULTRIX writing environment.
We need a simple word processing package for our writing
students. At this point we have 24 VT100's. What would be
easy to teach and to use?
Also, anyone out there using X terminals on UNIX? What word
processing package would you recommend if we were to go this
route with our students??ddr@flux.isr.alaska.edu (Donald D Rice) (05/09/91)
Depends on what you mean by "word processor". If you want typeset-quality output, and are stuck with VT100 terminals, I'd suggest LaTeX. Its macros make it relatively easy to teach and use, the software is basically free, and there are "how-to" books available for it. I think it is about the best you can expect for getting good laser-printed documents from old-style terminals. This approach won't have much impact on your Ultrix system. For student X terminals, I'd suggest looking at the Visual 14/ES models, which are (I think) the cheapest on the market. We have a couple running off our Ultrix system. Once you have an X terminal, there are more options for word processing. Interleaf has a good educational license program, and we have students using Interleaf's TPS 4.0 on the Visual 14/ES terminals running off a DECstation 5000. This works great for small numbers of users...if you have hoards of students running X and Interleaf off one server, though, you'll kill it. Our cost was $300 for TPS plus $600 per X terminal. If you want more details, let me know. I haven't talked to either company for several months so the prices may vary. -- Don Rice Internet: ddr@flux.isr.alaska.edu Geophysical Institute E-mail: fnddr@alaska.bitnet University of Alaska Phone: (907) 474-7569 Fairbanks, AK 99775 Loran: 64.86N 212.16E