Any recommended OCR software for Linux?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

But there is just so much software for Windows, and it's better. Just consider the text processing software. I like to write in a text editor with a white on black screen that supports fonts, italics, etc. I want to look like a dark mode, full-screen ASCII text editor, with functionality at the level of rich text. I could not find that in Linux. In Windows, I use Atlantis, and I assume there are others.

So.Much.Choice.

I've probably got 30 different editors and word processors installed on this computer. I don't use most of them, but I like testing them. Mostly I write short screenplays — more for my own entertainment than anything else. I've installed four, full-fledged GUI screenwriting applications (KIT Scenarist, WriterSolo, Trelby (my favorite) and Fade In). Fade In is a top tier, commercial application available for Macs, Windows and Linux — which is the case with all of these except Trelby doesn't have a Mac version. Even though I have all these (paid for and registered Fade In) my favorite writing tools are Fountain-Mode in Emacs and 'Afterwriting CLI for producing the properly formatted PDFs.

For general writing, LibreOffice comes pre-installed on Linux Mint. But I've been told that SoftMaker's Office Suite (which is available for Linux) integrates with M$ Office better. I don't have to work with M$ Office so I don't know (or really care). And a quick check shows me that a beta version of Atlantis for Linux is available. I haven't tested it yet, but I will, just to see what features it has. (Some other "Atlantis" — not the word processor.)

Fountain-Mode in Emacs is a text editor that supports on-screen italics, bold, underline, etc. It also parses your text to show a semi-GUI hint of what your PDF will look like when you make it. (Kind of like the professional application, Highland 2, for the Mac.) It has twenty, or so, built-in themes. I, personally, like a dark background with a light font — but it can accommodate either (or something in-between).

I've attached a link to show how Fountain-Mode in Emacs works. (I've written some shell scripts for the process (which is what I'll use), but it can all be done via the GUI. 'Afterwriting is even available online or downloaded where it works via the browser offline.) The display font I use is Courier Screenplay, but any font can be the default. I like a fixed font for writing and Courier Screenplay is a dark (and clean) Courier.

(I'm terrible at making these things, my apologies.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6kraxtdvr3...-Mode.mp4?dl=0

If it's blurry it's probably because Google is only half-way done processing it. Sometimes it takes a while. (Either that or I'm incompetent.) I don't know what's going on with Google, but the quality was terrible. Now trying with pCloud. (Well, tat turned out to be worthless.) Let's see if DropBox is any better.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

The long history of people not doing this no doubt the origin of the expression "crying in your CUPS" #TooEasy #SorryNotSorry

Yup. Most of HPs printers seem to just up and run. Brother printers have good Linux drivers, but they usually have to be installed.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I didn't realize all those linux supercomputers out there are only running super generic tasks.

And other "generic" duties like rendering Pixar movies.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Linux is fine for super generic tasks (mail, browse, office suites), but for anything even slightly more, then you are going to hit those limitations.

Thanks for the laugh. One of the places I do some work with has a bunch of Linux computers running Maya. While Maya is available for Windows Mac OSX and Linux, they found the best performance on the same hardware was with Linux.

Admittedly, their last bill for the 3 year renewal was ~$450,000 Cdn since the 3 year renewal runs about $5,800 Cdn though there is a bit of a discount for the 100+ licenses they purchase. They also have BackBurner installed on each node but I'm not sure what if any cost is involved for BackBurner.

They are looking at cloud rendering solutions but at this point, the bean counters are not impressed with the almost doubling in cost even considering the expense for hardware and electrical costs.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I didn't realize all those linux supercomputers out there are only running super generic tasks.

That's what all supercomputers do - they are running primitive batch mode number crunching programs.

Even a text editor is several orders of magnitude more complex than a supercomputer program.

[Sarmat89]

...and all that Linux demagogy to somehow defend a plain-text only stock-word recognition with a batch-mode-only software from 1985...

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

That's what all supercomputers do - they are running primitive batch mode number crunching programs.

Even a text editor is several orders of magnitude more complex than a supercomputer program.

Molecular modeling (for example) is "several magnitudes less complex" than a text editor? Really? I would love to see that editor you're talking about. It must be a doozy.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

...and all that Linux demagogy to somehow defend a plain-text only stock-word recognition with a batch-mode-only software from 1985...

I guess by "demagogy" you mean we opposed your assertion that Linux applications were "crap." You have the right to your opinion, we have the right to ours. I'm guessing those who actually use Linux probably have a better idea of its capabilities than those who don't.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

OMG the updates. Windows updates have been beyond awful since at least 7. The uninvited background process kicks off just when you need your battery and it sucks up the juice. Even in 7 it was hard to stop. It takes a geek to track down the process and MURDER it. And in 10? OMG. Now it's obligatory. Even for the geek in me, it took some time to find the right poison to kill it dead.

The update process has me starting to think about recommending Macs to end user types.

But there is just so much software for Windows, and it's better. Just consider the text processing software. I like to write in a text editor with a white on black screen that supports fonts, italics, etc. I want to look like a dark mode, full-screen ASCII text editor, with functionality at the level of rich text. I could not find that in Linux. In Windows, I use Atlantis, and I assume there are others.

So.Much.Choice.

But the Update? It is the spawn dog bastard from Tarturus.

I think you picked the one software example where Linux is better hands down. You can get a full-screen distraction free, dark-mode ASCII text editor just by switching to a virtual tty with Ctrl+alt+F2 through F6. And it's even harder to get distracted in as it's literally impossible to get notifications like those telling you to use Edge (I've had those appear in a full screen game on Windows), you can't alt+tab to another window until you switch back to tty1. Okay you can't pick fonts easily in ttys.

But even I you don't want to use a tty there is still loads of options. There are MULTIPLE emacs packages that will do it like writeroom-mode.

[Pajamaman]

Thanks for the insights into Mint. It sounds like it would suit me better than Ubuntu--a more Windows-like desktop and UI, more driver and codec support, more stuff working out the box, etc. Also it's based on Ubuntu, so the vast user support base for Ubuntu will be applicable to Mint.

[Pajamaman]

@rcentros. Yep, emacs with a plugin like fountain-works looks like the way to go. Thanks for the recommendation and info. I must admit, I am writing more and more in ASCII these days. I am using notepad+ a lot in Windows. It's quite nice, has multi-tab, but finding the settings to change options is the stuff of tortured fever dreams. Is emacs multi-tab? And does it do colored fonts? I've never used it.

Edit: watched the video. Thanks for your trouble. Yeah, that's impressive. I see the plugin fountain-works is for script writing. Can it be adapted to a general writing format--i.e., can scriptwriting template be dropped? Crucially, does it support multi-tab? I am forever flipping between windows and editing. But emacs definately looks worth exploring. I wonder if it works under windows...

Edit: Okay, GNU Emacs works in windows. So it's a question of getting the plugins working. I'll have a play around with this at some point.

Edit: The Centaur plugin provides tabs. Not sure if you can mix and match with other plugins such as fountain-works. But yeah, definately an interesting option when I feel like looking around. Always on the lookout for an interesting editor. I actually managed to copy some of the power features to windows using auto hot key.

The base software does look kinda ugly (like a DOS program), but the Centaur plug-in sexes it up. Call me shallow, but I like shiny stuff where possible.

[Pajamaman]

Now there's good example: As far as I know, there is no equivalent to of Windows auto hot key in Linux. This is a program I use constantly. It is extremely useful for changing binds on keyboards and adding macro functions to key strokes.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

That's what all supercomputers do - they are running primitive batch mode number crunching programs.

Even a text editor is several orders of magnitude more complex than a supercomputer program.

The last shred of credibility you had left is now gone.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

@rcentros. Yep, emacs with a plugin like fountain-works looks like the way to go. Thanks for the recommendation and info. I must admit, I am writing more and more in ASCII these days. I am using notepad+ a lot in Windows. It's quite nice, has multi-tab, but finding the settings to change options is the stuff of tortured fever dreams. Is emacs multi-tab? And does it do colored fonts? I've never used it.

Edit: watched the video. Thanks for your trouble. Yeah, that's impressive. I see the plugin fountain-works is for script writing. Can it be adapted to a general writing format--i.e., can scriptwriting template be dropped? Crucially, does it support multi-tab? I am forever flipping between windows and editing. But emacs definately looks worth exploring. I wonder if it works under windows...

Edit: Okay, GNU Emacs works in windows. So it's a question of getting the plugins working. I'll have a play around with this at some point.

Edit: The Centaur plugin provides tabs. Not sure if you can mix and match with other plugins such as fountain-works. But yeah, definately an interesting option when I feel like looking around. Always on the lookout for an interesting editor. I actually managed to copy some of the power features to windows using auto hot key.

The base software does look kinda ugly (like a DOS program), but the Centaur plug-in sexes it up. Call me shallow, but I like shiny stuff where possible.

Emacs works on Windows but it works better on Linux. Although for just writing you may never notice, it's more integration with compilers and GNU tools. In Emacs everything you open is open in the background as a buffer until you close it down even if it's not in focus. You can easily pick the buffer from the Buffers menu or using C-x b and typing it's name. I find I don't need tabs at all and just switch to buffers by name generally. You can also easily split the Emacs window into multiple panes documents side by side. The terminology is somewhat different because Emacs is 40+ years old. They call what's normally the "window" the frame, and panes in the "window", windows. So for example C-x 3 will open a new window on the right where you can open another file or whatever.

There is Linux alternatives to Auto hot key. For example Kmonad is a pretty new one that lets you create keymaps, different key layers, use tap and hold etc.

Emacs also has insane support for Macros and it's pretty easy to whip up stuff like a mail merge, you can also rebind every key in it if you're insane including just letter keys.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

The last shred of credibility you had left is now gone.

Supercomputers are late '50s technology, modern text editors of middle '80s. Guess what is more complicated.