So what actually is this? Reading through it, the description sounds like it's basically notepad? Why would I use this instead of notepad except for some sort of aesthetic of working in the terminal?
replies(3):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_processor
I think a lot of people have forgotten that “word processors” were originally mechanical devices, and then electrical and electronic devices, before ultimately becoming software.
Difference between Word Processor and text editor is in WYSIWYG mode of operation. At least for most of people.
Like my Sciter.Notes (https://notes.sciter.com) has better chances to be named as Word Processor as its primary mode is WYSIWYG. It also supports WordGrinder alike mode (Markdown editing) so users can chose what mode is more suitable for particular document type.
That’s a very modern perspective. In the history of computing, WYSIWYG word processing appears only in recent history. For far longer, the requirement was simply “processing words”. How they were displayed was irrelevant.
Indeed, it used to be considered such a computationally expensive task that entire systems were developed exclusively for word processing that did not have any other general purpose computing functionality. They were usually controlled through terminals which did not have graphics capability.
A useful taxonomy might include:
* text editors: produce and edit text, saved to files
* formatting languages: inline, interlinear and/or out-of-band formatting to define semantic and/or visual layout
* word processors: text editors with an integrated formatting system with the ability to integrate some graphic elements, producing either printable documents or a specialized save format. Most likely to offer WYSIWYG-ish as the primary interface.
* publishing systems: formatting systems designed to create templates and apply them to produce repeatable-but-tweakable documents from multiple inputs and updated contents