Distraction-free, full-screen writing software has been popular among writers on all platforms for many years now. Such software offers an apparent solution to a common writer’s problem: too many distracting websites applications, games system functions, and emails to attend to, especially when one feels less like writing and secretly welcomes any distraction as a saviour.
There are many excellent applications for Windows and Mac that offer a clean, full-screen writing environment without the bells and whistles you would find in a regular word processor, but Linux seems to be somewhat lacking of quality Zenware writing applications. Development on most of this software seems to have halted years ago, and some promising applications have lost compatibility with newer systems due to outdated dependencies.
If you are a writer or engage in any sort of writing regularly and prefer using Linux, there is still some hope. The following three applications are either actively developed and maintained or have not yet lost functionality on Linux.
1. Focuswriter
Possibly the best and most feature-rich, and apparently one of the very few actively maintained Linux-native distraction-free writing application is Focuswriter from Gott Code. It has packaged candidates for most major Linux distributions, such as on Ubuntu you could install it typing
sudo apt-get install focuswriter
Although this will only provide you with somewhat limited functionality and definitely less available themes. To install upstream (the latest version), just use the official PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository sourceforge.net/projects/twin/ sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install focuswriter
While most distraction-free writing applications make an effort to maintain their “cleanliness” by removing functionality, Focuswriter offers many rich text formatting features. You are initially presented with a background and a writing window and nothing else.
If you move your mouse around the screen edges, however, you will find the hidden controls pop into view.
Apart from the basic text formatting features, focus writer lets you set daily goals in either minutes or words written (the completion of which will be indicated at the bottom panel), set up timers, and work on multiple documents in a tabbed manner.
You can choose from four default themes or create your own using any background color or image you like.
An interesting feature of Focuswriter is the Focused Text (Settings -> Focused Text) that lets the active line, three lines, or paragraph stand out slightly, dimming all other text to the background.
Focuswriter will let you save your work in Plain text ODT, OOXML and RTF formats, which makes it easier to import and format it in the word processor of your preference.
2. CutePad
CutePad is an interesting app with an innovative approach. It’s a small project from Sri Lanka inspired by Windows Metro interface design. The download link asks for your name and email, which might discourage some people, but you can just enter fake information if you value your privacy. To install CutePad on Linux, simply extract the downloaded archive and run the executable file in the “CutePad_LinuxBuild_x8x” (sub)folder.
The central writing area is flanked by context-sensitive floating toolbars that enable quick access to CutePad’s settings. The bottom toolbar offers basic functions: opening, creating, printing and saving files, as well as “Search” and “Export to PDF.” The top ribbon contents change as you select options from the menu (“Write,” “Format,” “Insert” and “Find”). The “Insert” toolbar has handy pop-up dialogs for inserting links, pictures, tables, date and time, while options for alignment, word wrap, bulleted lists, font type, size and color can be found under the “Format” menu.
CutePad supports standard keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl+S for saving, Ctrl+B for bold text …) so it shouldn’t take too long to get used to it. It’s not exactly “distraction-free” as the floating toolbars seem quite intrusive, but its fresh appearance might get your creative juices flowing.
3. TextTrix
TextTrix is a Java application, which means it’s not the prettiest text editor on the list, but on the other hand, you don’t have to install it – just run it by typing java -jar TextTrix.jar in the terminal. It will appeal to advanced users and programmers, as it supports syntax highlighting for a number of programming languages, and you can even develop your own plugins to extend TextTrix’s functionality. The best feature of TextTrix, and the one I’d love to see in other text editors, is “Line Dance.” It’s a simple and extremely useful way to navigate within a file by bookmarking selected lines.
Apart from this, TextTrix supports spell checking, opening multiple files in tabs and organizing them into groups, and saving sessions (similar to FocusWriter). While you might not opt to write your PhD thesis in TextTrix, it can help you work more efficiently with big text files.
4. KoalaWriter
The runner-up for Linux is KoalaWriter, a clone of Ommwriter, a pretty Zenware writing application that is unfortunately unavailable for Linux. KoalaWriter is built on QT, so if you want to install it on any other DE, you will also have to install plenty of libraries first.
There are no packages for Ubuntu. You should instead visit the developer’s Google Code Page and download the tar archive from there. The last version 1.0.1 segfaults upon startup. Since it has been released in November 2011, and the bug report pointing this out is still marked as new, it is safe to assume that the project has been abandoned. The previous version however appears to work well on Ubuntu 15.04. You can get it with the command:
wget https://koalawriter.googlecode.com/files/KoalaWriter.tar.gz
Install the dependencies:
sudo apt-get install build-essential qt4-dev-tools libphonon-dev
Unpack the archive:
tar -xvf KoalaWriter.tar.gz
Change to the unpacked directory:
cd KoalaWriter
and compile:
qmake make
To run, type:
./KoalaWriter
KoalaWriter has a much more minimalistic approach. You get a background image, a resizeable writing area and a basic set of controls.
These disappear as soon as you start typing.
You can adjust the font and the text size, but you can expect little text-formatting features.
It more or less achieves its goal, apart from the included background images that are unfortunately rather distracting, unlike the nice ambient colours of Ommwriter. The other two extra functions, (not necessarily distraction-free) playing some quiet music and making clicking noises for key presses will only work with a phonon-backend installed. Under KDE, you would have no problems, while on other systems you would need to install one:
sudo apt-get install phonon-backend-gstreamer
It is worth noting, that on the first start, the writing area will appear on the extreme left which you can correct by dragging the sides and corners to their proper position
You can also control the opacity of the writing area with the not-so-obvious sliding control on the bottom.
KoalaWriter will only allow you to save your work as a plain text file.
5. JDarkRoom
JDarkRoom is a very simple, Java-based, cross platform writing application with a super-clean user interface that is reminiscent of the old monochromatic screens of the 80s. On Linux it is a Java application with 1.5 beta being the latest version released in 2010, but still working flawlessly. To run it, you will need Java 1.6 or higher. If you don’t have Java installed, the easiest way to get your distro’s default JRE is
sudo apt-get install default-jre
To download JDarkRoom, type:
wget http://www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/versions/15-beta/JDarkRoom.jar
Then you can start it with:
java -jar JDarkRoom.jar
in the directory where it has been downloaded.
Whether you are a die-hard nerd or a middle-aged writer who felt most comfortable using the word processors of his old Commodore 64, you will feel right at home with JDarkRoom. For other people it might just appear a bit too Spartan.
JDarkRoom takes “distraction-free” seriously and comes with an extremely limited set of front-end features. Pressing F5 will show them all.
Of course there is plenty of configuration you can do under the hood like changing colours, line-endings, font, cursor style, screen borders and much more, by pressing F6.
JDarkRoom will let you save plain text files with an option to turn on MarkDown export.
Conclusion
Distraction-free writing applications seem to have been abandoned on Linux, with the notable exception of Focuswriter. While some of these are still working, it is not guaranteed they will continue doing so in the future. Although Focuswriter has some nice features, it is probably best to consider switching to Full Screen mode of your favourite word processor to achieve a similar effect with really no unnecessary bloat. OpenOffice, LibreOffice and even Scrivener offer such features, and it would allow you to work in the environment you would use to further enhance your text later without the need of exporting and importing between applications.
Photo credit: Rubin Starset, CC BY-NC-SA
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Attila Orosz
Attila is a writer, blogger and author with a background in IT management. Using GNU/Linux systems both personally and professionally, his advice stems from 10+ years of hands on experience. In his free time he also runs the popular Meditation for Beginners blog.
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