Linux is fundamentally an open-source Operating System. Using open-source software on Linux is as peaceful as the Himalayas. Here we’ve discussed 5 such software that could be the best friend of a writer if done right.1. Espanso:Writers are often found to be the most absent-minded individuals on the planet. While they can write a 500-page book within three months, they struggle with an official letter. You always wish to have a smart autocomplete system that will fill up the details with a hint and insert the necessary boring details like dates and times for you.While you could hire someone to fill in the details for you, why not download a program for free that will do it all?Espanso is an open-source program that inserts phrases into your writing when triggered by a keyword. Copy-pasting is a writer’s worst dream come true. Espanso helps you create templates for every other cover letter or writing you need to do. Just write once and change accordingly from later on. Emoji support, search function, are additional standard features Espanso provides.2. Markdown:We writers are fond of clutter-free, featureless, writing environments. But, most of the software that is widely available, is clumsy and complex. While we want to write and write only, those present us the option to do anything with it. Which is often the best way to market their product.Writers care about only one thing, how the text is going to look in websites and books. For that, Markdown is the best possible open-source option available for you. Markdown is the informal standard for HTML and is being used in many software to take notes, blog, and make texts readable.If you are able to implement markdown in your writing program, that’s fine. But you can also download one of the many editors that support markdown to get started. You need to use some codes like “**” and “<>” before and after the texts to format them as you wish.3. Gitbook Editor:Publishing your finished writing is a hassle. Checking the markdown, proofreading, fixing headlines, typos, take as much time as writing. You often find yourself looking for someone to do this for you. But, that someone might not be as experienced as you, might not understand the flow. Even if you find someone perfect, publishing is still a hassle.Gitbook Editor is an open-source editor that is used by 5000+ companies daily. Every quality you expect an editor to have is implemented in Gitbook Editor. While you were writing, it already has formatted your text and synced it with GitHub and GitLab. Want to publish your article online, just a click will do. Collaborating with other writers is also a struggle of the past with Gitbook Editor.4. Calibre:Love reading E-books? Lose them often? Love Kindle but don’t know how to use it? Me too. Managing my e-book collection is as stressful as describing a politician. You often wonder if anything is remotely possible to help you out with it, where you could keep your library and keep a backup of it all.Calibre is all that. It’s open-source, works on Linux, free to use, manages your e-books like it’s their nanny, opens them up in a comprehensive manner, downloads the ones you need, and backs them up. What more do you need for a free e-book manager!5. Plume Creator:Hello novelists. Do you need image insertion in your text? Would you love to have a hint of red in your headings? NO! You just need a simple workspace that doesn’t harass you every day with features. While it would be lovely to have some rich-text formatting available but everything over the top is disgraceful.Plume Creator is just that. With minimal necessary features like rich text formatting and full-screen mode, it appeals the most to novelists, who don’t have much demand for editing. Take notes, check stats, export to .html and .odf formats, but nothing overwhelming and certainly doesn’t get in the way. It’s also free and is available for Linux.The Bottom Line:While open-source writing software are the greatest of solutions, but you need to understand how to install them on your Linux OS. While some of them are easily downloadable, most of them require specific processes to be installed. But, don’t worry, it’s not rocket science.All the best.This is a guest post by Cath Jenkin
