AARRRGGG, Final Draft

[Tom_ZeCat]

I've used Final Draft for many years for writing my plays. It makes it way easier to format a script than it is when using a standard word processor like LibreOffice Writer, WordPerfect, or that atrocious thing that Microsoft created.

Unfortunately, for years there have only been Windows and Mac versions of Final Draft. Now they've come out with an Android version, but still no Linux one. ARRRRRGG! I would never dream of writing a play on a phone or on a tablet. Can you imagine pecking your way on one of those virtual keyboards? Yuck.

Mac is based on Unix. It should therefore be totally doable to port the Mac Final Draft version over to Linux. I've told FD I would be willing to buy another copy of the software if they came out with a Linux version. There have got to be a lot of playwrights and screenwriters who use Linux. Yes? No? Maybe?

Final Draft also doesn't run under WINE, making the only option to keep using Windows in some fashion, either via a dual boot or under VirtualBox. I am thankful I can run FD. I use VirtualBox. It would just be so much nicer to be able to run it integrated into Kubuntu. But at least I can still run it.

I'll also keep my eye on Linux alternatives like CeltX and Trelby. Last time I tried them, they simply weren't up to snuff. They're probably good enough for a screenwriter. However, CeltX's playwriting template was non-standard. It didn't even come close to the standard Samuel French format or the Dramatist guild one. I forget what I didn't like about Trelby. I haven't had it installed for a while. I'll have to keep giving those apps a look from time to time.

My guess is Final Draft determined they would not make enough money from the Linux market. Maybe they assumed not enough Linux users would buy FD. I know I would -- that's all I know. This is the soapbox room, so I'm entitled to gripe about it just because I'm frustrated. Maybe one day the numbers will come in at Final Draft and they'll say, "Hey, there's enough money in the Linux market now to come out with a version for it." I hope that day comes.

[SteveRiley]

http://www.darlinghq.org/

Nowhere near finished, but a possible hope for running OS X applications on Linux. The underlying bits in OS X are a derivative of BSD, not GNU/Linux, so getting Mac software to run on a Linux-based operating system is more work than it might first appear. The ABIs are completely different, for example.

[Tom_ZeCat]

http://www.darlinghq.org/

Nowhere near finished, but a possible hope for running OS X applications on Linux. The underlying bits in OS X are a derivative of BSD, not GNU/Linux, so getting Mac software to run on a Linux-based operating system is more work than it might first appear. The ABIs are completely different, for example.

That's cool. Thanks for the info. I have considered running Max OS X under VirtualBox and then running the Mac version of FD. There are problems involved with that. Mac doesn't want its OS run on non-Mac hardware and therefore puts stuff in to prevent that. So you're always running a hack that could be broken by an update. But a Mac WINE-type project sounds cool.

I also plan to delve into C++ programming. I used to program in Visual BASIC years back. If I knew C++, I could modify LibreOffice Writer. Maybe I could even modify it enough to be extremely adept at play scripts. But that's for down the road. It's going to take time to get any good at C++, and it's harder than VB.

[NickStone]

Have you tried Calligra Author http://www.calligra.org/news/calligra-announces-author/

Apparently its designed for authors but I'm sure it can be used for play writers as well?

[Feathers McGraw]

I hear the real pros use WordStar 4.0: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27407502

Feathers

[NickStone]

I hear the real pros use WordStar 4.0: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27407502

Feathers

Well if it still does the job why shouldn't he use DOS and WordStar. That was the first word processor I ever used and it was a very good word processor. In fact I would say that WordStar for DOS back in the 80's and 90's is just as good if not better than most of the word processors of today. I could be wrong but, WordStar was the first and I believe only word processor that was specifically designed for typists because its function keys were on the normal keyboard - you didn't have to move your fingers to the F keys above the keyboard like in WordPerfect, and there was no need for a mouse to point and click to activate commands.

[Feathers McGraw]

Yeah, well whatever he's doing he's doing it well, I just hope he has a backup!

... and that it really is his final draft, he hasn't released a book in ages! Don't want it to become another Wheel of Time situation!

[GreyGeek]

Tom_ZeCat, have you ever played around with Kile:
http://kde.org/applications/office/kile/
It is a front end to LaTex, which has the ability format the output like no other. You set up your formatting and then just pile in the text. Kile/Latex takes care of the final output. Mix, match & modify to suit the most finicky tastes.

It's in the repository, but more info and a better description is here:
http://kile.sourceforge.net/

The online manual is here: http://docs.kde.org/development/en/e...ile/index.html

There are sample templates for playwrites. Here is one:
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macr.../contrib/sides

And it documentation:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...67720277,d.b2k

A google search would probably show other examples of LaTex and Tex templates for playwrites.

[Feathers McGraw]

+1 for Kile, it's the best TeX editor I've ever used. You can make documents look very smart with LaTeX.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Well if it still does the job why shouldn't he use DOS and WordStar. That was the first word processor I ever used and it was a very good word processor. In fact I would say that WordStar for DOS back in the 80's and 90's is just as good if not better than most of the word processors of today. I could be wrong but, WordStar was the first and I believe only word processor that was specifically designed for typists because its function keys were on the normal keyboard - you didn't have to move your fingers to the F keys above the keyboard like in WordPerfect, and there was no need for a mouse to point and click to activate commands.

Yup, I'm an ex-WordStar user who was frustrated by how they got away from the quick and efficient cursor diamond keystrokes. To this day, I program as many of them as I can into whatever modern word processor I'm using. I've programmed most of them into LO Writer and am looking into how to program in a few more. If I don't have the WordStar keystrokes, I feel like I have one hand tied behind my back.

Tom_ZeCat, have you ever played around with Kile:
http://kde.org/applications/office/kile/
It is a front end to LaTex, which has the ability format the output like no other. You set up your formatting and then just pile in the text. Kile/Latex takes care of the final output. Mix, match & modify to suit the most finicky tastes.

It's in the repository, but more info and a better description is here:
http://kile.sourceforge.net/

The online manual is here: http://docs.kde.org/development/en/e...ile/index.html

There are sample templates for playwrites. Here is one:
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macr.../contrib/sides

And it documentation:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...67720277,d.b2k

A google search would probably show other examples of LaTex and Tex templates for playwrites.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[jlittle]

I also plan to delve into C++ programming. I used to program in Visual BASIC years back. ... It's going to take time to get any good at C++, and it's harder than VB.

( This is hard to say without sounding patronizing, and that's not my intention at all; I wish to give a warning.) C++ is very hard to learn, let alone to be productive with. When I worked with it I came to the opinion that most programmers I knew would not cope with its complexities. This was certainly borne out by the code I had to maintain. It has on paper improved since then, but I doubt there's much difference in ease of learning.
Far better, learn Python or Ruby.


Regards, John Little

[MoonRise]

Python has been good to me. Have Pascal. Modula and VB background and Python felt so comfortable like my past languages. I've even been able to turn one project into a Windows EXE. Crated a quick installer for it and wow! Even Easy GUI was nice. Though I wish I went with 3.0 instead of 2.7 but one piece I needed for my project wasn't ported over yet, at least I couldn't find it. Either way, Python has been wonderful, for me.

[GerardV]

I have considered running Max OS X under VirtualBox and then running the Mac version of FD. There are problems involved with that. Mac doesn't want its OS run on non-Mac hardware and therefore puts stuff in to prevent that. So you're always running a hack that could be broken by an update. But a Mac WINE-type project sounds cool.

I have run OSX under VMplayer very successfully. There is a patch for the VMplayer that allows you to do that. I have used it with Kubuntu 14 as a way of getting back into using Logic again since i destroyed my iMac.
It never worked because of the audio problems so i got rid of it. But everything else worked fine. I am at work at the moment but will post the link for the patch when i get home.

[GerardV]

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/fil...cker-for-os-x/
Here is the link for the patch. You better of sticking with Lion as you don't seem to have much of a choice if you use a later version with your screen resolution.

[GreyGeek]

....
I also plan to delve into C++ programming. I used to program in Visual BASIC years back. If I knew C++, I could modify LibreOffice Writer. Maybe I could even modify it enough to be extremely adept at play scripts. But that's for down the road. It's going to take time to get any good at C++, and it's harder than VB.

If you've programmed in VB then you should have no trouble with C++, as long as you use a good GUI RAD tool, like Qtcreator. There are two good ways to install it and the Qt API that, IMO, is the best way to utilize C++.
1) From the repo install qtcreator. It will also install the qt4-designer, qt4-assistant, qt4-doc (which is VERY good and thorough) and the other necessary files. Be sure build-essential is installed. For bells and whistles select all the recommends as well. For a back end database install PostgreSQL and and excellent admin tool, pgadmin3. The environmental vars are automatically set. You can finalize the config in the qtcreator options.

2) Or, from the repo, install qt-sdk. It automatically pulls in build-essential and the other qt4 tools mentioned above. Then install PostgreSQL and pgadmin3.

(The Ubuntu qt sdk ppa is here: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sdk-team/+archive/ppa)

The qt4 doc (or qt5 if you install it) comes with a complete set of examples for each of the various controls, features, etc. The docs are as good, if not the best, as an I've encountered in 40 yrs of programming.

Using VB you are used to creating a form and dropping on menus, buttons, controls, etc., then editing the properties of those controls or editing the methods created when those controls are dropped onto the form. It's the same with Qt4-designer.

C++ source files generally have the "startup" program, main.cpp, and other headers (*.h) and source files (*.cpp) and resource files (icons, jpgs, i18n declarations, etc...). Simple program often are contained within the main.cpp, but more complicated programs usually use main.cpp to set up the environment, backends, etc..., and then call the main program. Qt's API included Q_OBJECT, a class which is added to user defined classes to automatically destroy open pointers, do memory garbage clean up, etc....

In my work environment Windows was the client and Windows servers made up the network. I used Linux as my workstation (dual boot) because I could develop about 3 to 5 times faster in Linux (SuSE 6.4) using Kate and KDbg than in XP SP3 using MS VS C++ 2003. I also used PostgreSQL as the back end (on a server in my office) and I used compiler defines to switch code in or out depending on which back end was being used; Oracle or PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL was (is?) 95% compatible with Oracle, and I didn't have to use an Oracle license slot.

Bottom line: programming using the Qt API was a joy and allowed me to unleash my creativity. IOW, the tool didn't constrain what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.