Re: editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U

On Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:45:07 +0100, Anton Shterenlikht wrote:
On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 05:31:33AM +0200, Polytropon wrote:
On Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:02:27 +0100, Anton Shterenlikht wrote:
On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 01:33:58PM -0500, Robert Bonomi wrote:

Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:50:26 +0100
From: Anton Shterenlikht <mexas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: freebsd-questions@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U

My daughter is doing a touch typing course
that presumes MS Word. So far she was fine
with pico, but now they want the kids to
practice CTRL/B (bold), CTRL/I (italic),
CTRL/U (underline). She really needs to use
these particular combinations because that
is how the on-line assessment tool is set out.

I use nothing but vi, so have no clue which,
if any, editor from ports/editors will have
these particular combinations implemented.

Please recommend one, preferably as simple
and as small as possible.

Sorry *NO* 'text editor' has those capabilities, let alone has
them on those key sequences.

Those are 'word processor' functions. word processor' software
is required.

I know, I know..

Seems that your "better paid friends" at the board of
education do _not_ know. :-)



I don't know why in a touchtyping course
you need to teach kids this, but..

WHAT? Let me get some food, I need to barf. What does this
have to do with touchtyping? What an educational ballast
are they teaching?



Anyway, abiword seems to do what I need.

Let me know if there's anything lighter.

I'm not aware of anything lighter in the realm of word
processors. All "alternatives" are full office suites,
so the "single purpose" AbiWord (with less dependencies)
should be the closest match and the most efficient one.

It is even "file-compatible" with proprietary MICROS~1
products and offers a lot of the look & feel (which
contradicts "blind" touchtyping) of "Word", at least
some _older_ versions of it.

Teaching children an outdated version of some program
(which it _will_ be when they leave school) is not a good
idea. It creates confision and inefficient handling of
the wrong tools to do a job.

"I want this to be a heading, I'm at... chapter 3.5 now,
okay... this is 3.6 then. Then I select the text with the
mouse... wait... okay, now [B] as I need a fat typeface,
and maybe... make the text bigger... 15pt should be fine,
no, 17 pt is better. Some spaces here... space space space
space space, now it is centered. Good. Return Return Return,
and now I can start with the text."

Compare that _typical_ approach to simply applying the style
"Heading 2". And imagine the fun of changing font face, font
size or enumeration. :-)

calm down man..

I'll keep calm and carry on. :-)



It's not too bad.

On the positive side, she only needed this 2/3 into
the course, when she can touch type already. Other
extra things they teach kids in the course are how
to write an informal letter or a job application - skills
that most UK school leavers haven't got.

Really? And I thought Germany was bad in this regards...
Encouraging those skills is a very positive aspects,
and touchtyping will be handy for everyone who will
work with computers in a professional career.



sure, if I were designing the touch typing course,
it would be different - I taught myself with
games/gtypist, but..

I taught myself with a mechanical typewriter. :-)



On the other side, I have to admit, that overall
things with computer education in the UK are bad.
A report published by the Royal Society (UK
equivalent of an Academy of Sciences in other
countries) in January 2012 is tellingly entitled:

Computing in Schools: Shut down or restart?

and starts with:

The current delivery of Computing education
in many UK schools is highly unsatisfactory.

and then goes:

many pupils are not inspired by what they
are taught and gain nothing beyond basic
digital literacy skills such as how to use
a word-processor or a database.

It's a pretty depressing read:

http://royalsociety.org/education/policy/computing-in-schools/report/

Anyway, those of us in a position to affect
kids computer education, should do it, but
it's an uphill battle.

Thanks for that article, it's really sad. One of the main
problems is (in my opinion) that GENERIC SKILLS aren't
recognozed with the big importane they have. With them,
a pupil can educate himself _regardless_ of the current
program or operating system. Understanding the basic
things "under the hood" is important to get those skills.
They include even such stupid things like reading and
understanding, as well as concluding or extrapolating.
Being tied to _one_ specific implementation of some
kind of program (e. g. _one_ outdated word processor)
does not grow those skills. However, there is no real
way to raise the _interest_ of a pupil in those things,
given the fact that we live in a world of PCs and smart-
phones everywhere, a world of arbitraryness, of "just
works" and of "even stupid can do it". There seems to
be no understanding of the fact that when "just works"
fails, only generic knowledge will lead to a solution
of a problem. This continues in the "professional" world
where the belief that you can "buy everything" extends
to knowledge, experience, time and success. Less and
less "knowing" persons will be present in such a system,
leading to the development of IT being a "mysterious
thing of magic". This will of course be something that
will materialize in the "long run", not right today. But
the decisions of today will determine the future.

(It can be different - I know it, I did live in a country
that _was_ different.)


--
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
_______________________________________________
freebsd-questions@xxxxxxxxxxx mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx"

Relevant Pages

  • Re: editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U
    ... editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U ... My daughter is doing a touch typing course ... space space space ... things with computer education in the UK are bad. ...
    (freebsd-questions)
  • Re: editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U
    ... editor that understands CTRL/B, CTRL/I, CTRL/U ... CTRL/U. ... space space space ...
    (freebsd-questions)
  • Re: sintax error?
    ... configuration, ... is anoying, and a nice editor is the answer (or better skills:). ...
    (comp.lang.tcl)
  • Re: Call for Submissions
    ... They earn a living with their skills (there we go ... I believe I'm a good editor. ... But I don't always work for money. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: SF Publishing Opportunity
    ... acting as editor for this project. ... did not attack my writing style and skills here - I thought that would ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)