I like to write and that has always been. It has something very reassuring to see on a screen, letters fill an empty space which sometimes can be scary. And these little letters, when she form ideas, it becomes incredible! I also like the formatting & mldr; A little fat here, a little italic or underlined there. It’s amazing! I think I could never do without this feeling, I love it too much!
But let’s face it, on a modern PC, it has become a mission impossible to stay concentrated more than 10 minutes without checking your emails, opening a new tab or falling into the black hole of cat videos that make skateboarding. So you don’t imagine how super happy I am learning that there is a baptized movement Writerdeck which consists in creating devices dedicated only to writing. Basically, modern typewriters stripped of everything that could distract you, like a kind of “voluntary lobotomy” for your laptop.
This term “Writerdeck” comes from the concept of “Cyberdeck”, these tinkered computers with a retro-futuristic aesthetic that one would believe straight out of a novel by William Gibson. The difference is that instead of looking cool to hack megacorpos, the Writerdecks are optimized for one thing: Write !! There are magnificent on this reddit!
So if you have an old PC at home, it is possible to transform it into a typewriter of this style thanks to a bone called Tinker Writerdeck OS and only requires a simple X64 processor. Basically, we are talking about an ultra-minimalist Linux that starts directly in a text editor. No desktop, no browser, no applications, no notification “Your ex has just updated his Instagram profile”.
Just you and your words.
The system starts in 20 seconds, even on a dinosaur, and swings you directly in the text editor Tilde.
Be careful, howeverthis publisher is not Word or LibreOffice. We are talking about a raw text editor, without spelling corrector and especially without automatic backup. So do not forget to press CTRL+S regularly, under penalty of seeing your next masterpiece disappear in digital nothingness. A little tilde update to add auto save it would be not bad anyway.
The interface still offers some personalization options such as clear or dark themes (accessible via Alt+O), and for the most hackers of you, a hidden developer mode (CTRL+Q) gives you access to the underlying BASH terminal. You can then install other publishers, modify the keyboard arrangement or even (sacrilege!) Activate wifi to synchronize your texts in the cloud.
The transfer of files to your other machines is simply done via USB key, which will automatically be mounted in the folder/Home/Author/Usbs/. Super practical so to recover your novel and format it correctly on your main PC.
Here, by deleting all the superfluous features of your device, this operating system transforms an object of distraction into a pure creation tool and that is beautiful!
In addition it is free, open-source and it allows you to do a little recycling if you have an old laptop that takes dust. Like that, if you have planned to write a novel, you will be able to regain control of your attention and focus on your writings using this tool as radical as it is deeply satisfactory.
The installation is ridiculously simple:
- Download the ISO to Github Or Archive.org
- Create a bootable USB key (with Rufus on Windows or Etcher, multiplatform)
- Start on it (F12, escape or f2 at start -up according to your laptop)
- Let the automatic installation do its work (beware, it erases everything!)
- For the first start, use “Author” as Login and “Password” as a password
And that’s it! The following starts will go directly to the publisher Tilde, without annoying you with logins or other administrative formalities.
I have not yet tested this solution over time, but user testimonies on Reddit are particularly enthusiastic: “I wrote more in a week with my writerdeck than in a month with my normal computer“, Or”My writing sessions went from 45 minutes to more than 2 hours without even realizing it”. That’s a dream!
Next door, commercial solutions such as Freewrite (around € 500) seem very expensive for what they offer. Admittedly, they are prettier and more portable, but difficult to justify such a price when you can recycle an old computer for free.
In short, when I retire, I think that is on it that I would sleep my memories. If I write them one day & mldr;
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