I have seen old threads on this subject, but I'm wondering if anyone can give me an up-to-date status. I have been able to install Abiword, but when I load a Word doc it just shows lots of question marks. I tried installing the more-gconv-modules as earlier threads suggested, but no difference.

I got Abiword 2.4.6 from the www.abisource.com/downloads/apt catalog (mistral, user).

I am going to be on the road in a few days and need to be able to proof-check Word docs via email if possible.

I tried installing Minimo and using google docs, which seems to work... almost. When editing, I get no cursor, which is frustrating. So close...

Many things about the N800 seem to be "work in progress", which is a bit of a shame. I am thinking (hoping) that another year or two will see this platform able to do most of the things we expect from a portable computer these days... it's very close, but little details like being able to read Word docs are big stumbling blocks (considering I was hoping this device could replace my laptop on road trips, I know, perhaps a foolish hope but it's soooo close to being there...)

So: Has anybody got the magic incantation to enable editing Word docs? I do have the latest OS2007 installed.

Thanks!

/Neil

Please check that you got abiword 2.2.7 with more_gconv_modules, from the right repo and in red pill mode. I had this same problem at the beginning then uninstalled everything, reinstalled and ta-dah! It was importing word rightly.

I am somewhat new to the N800, so I would appreciate it if you could fill me in on what "red pill mode" is, and where the correct repo is... this would be useful info for other people coming upon this thread too, methinks. Thanks!

Ah, I got the red pill thing:

http://hildon-app-mgr.garage.maemo.org/redpill.html

Now, to find the correct repo for Abiword 2.2.7...

All I can see on the www.abisource.com/downloads/apt repo is 2.4.6. Where do people get 2.2.7 from???

Thanks,

/Neil

http://erinye.com/maemo mistral user

see http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3346

erinye.com/maemo
mistral
user

R.
==

Thanks! Yes, I already had erinye in my catalogs, but Abiword 2.2.7 wasn't showing up in the installable apps list. I found that I had to disable the abisource catalog - then 2.2.7 showed up and I was able to install it. I also re-installed more-gconv-modules, and it now seems to work. I was able to load a Word doc and do at least basic editing (which is all I need for now).

Great, thanks very much.

I hope/wish they would get this stuff more intuitive in the future, all this messing around with different repositories and "red pill" mode is kind of silly (and I have been working with Linux for eight years now, so I'm well used to that kind of silliness)... most people buying a PDA like this probably will be in for a shock when they realize what kind of messing around is required to get basic stuff like this to work. Seems typical of Linux - the great bulk of the work is done and the thing is mostly working... but you still need to do that stupid secret incantation thing to get it to actually work. They do all this work to port the apps, why can't it be more intuitive to install???

/rant

Anyway, thanks again.

/Neil

Update: Bit of a fly in the ointment here - I just discovered that when you edit a Word document in Abiword (on the N800) and then save it, the doc is saved in Abiword format, not Word format. So unless the person I am sending the doc back to has Abiword on their Mac, this won't be much use... :-(

I guess I can try to get Abiword installed on the Mac in question.

I find that the best and most foolproof method is using the MicroB browser and google docs. Email the document to your gmail account and then open it up through google docs. You can edit and save in a variety of formats as well as share the document directly. Not as nice as having a dedicated offline word editor but still it does work.