
A Song of DOS and WordStar - smacktoward
http://nevalalee.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/a-song-of-dos-and-wordstar/
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mickeyp
Emacs, of course, has a wordstar mode that can be activated with M-x wordstar-
mode for those of you who're curious enough to try it out.

The copyright for that file dates back to 1991, back when Wordstar was still
relevant. Like BRIEF and WordPerfect they have gone the way of the dodo.

I still remember having to use WordPerfect back in the day; but without the
little cardboard printout you stuck to the keyboard's F-row it was almost
impossible to use.

~~~
chinpokomon
That might convince me to finally switch from vi. Wordstar was one of the
first programs I used and the similar keyboard shortcuts used by Borland
probably didn't hurt when I started programming. I'm sure all that muscle
memory is long forgotten by now... ^k^b, ^k^k. I vaguely remember that as how
to define a selection block, but I'm not sure I got it right.

~~~
mickeyp
There's nothing stopping you from customizing Emacs to do what you like with
keybindings. You can use either BRIEF or WordStar as a jumping off point.

------
sehugg
Joe's Own Editor still mimics WordStar for those whose fingers never re-
learned: [http://joe-editor.sourceforge.net/](http://joe-
editor.sourceforge.net/)

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ebbv
This has been known by GRRM fans for quite some time. It's funny what bits of
trivia become relevant again as the show finds new audiences.

The reality is, of course, that WordStar doesn't do anything special that
there's not a modern replacement for. With the wide variety of software out
there available to write documents, I'm sure that there's something that would
word as well or better.

But the thing is, GRRM isn't interested in finding a replacement. He knows
what works for him. And that's fine.

~~~
ygra
Also I guess we would want him to write instead of spending his time getting
used to other tools.

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suprjami
A friend of mine is a published author who wrote his books on a cramped 9"
netbook during his daily commute on the train.

It's not about the tool, it's about the author.

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cjensen
Seems like DOS running in a VM might be a better choice, so that you could run
it on a machine with auto-backups.

~~~
baking
I was wondering how old his disk drive had to be.

Edit: "To all of you worried about my backing up my fiction. I write on a DOS
machine that is physically separate from my Windows machine and has no
connection to the internet. It cannot get a virus. Assuming someone was
writing viruses for WordStar 4.0, which I think unlikely. It also has a built
in mirrored drive, so everything I write is automatically copied to two hard
drives. I back up frequently to floppy disks, less frequently to CD/ROM, every
blue moon to a Zip drive. So I think I am pretty well backed up. The one
vulnerability I have is that all these backups share the same physical
location, so if my house burned down, I'd be screwed. I have looked into
offsite backup systems, yes, but unfortunately none of them will work with
DOS/ WordStar. (And no, don't ask, I'm not going to send any of you a disk for
"safekeeping," I'm on to that trick)."

[http://grrm.livejournal.com/83679.html](http://grrm.livejournal.com/83679.html)

~~~
DanBC
Someone should teach him about encryption, then he can encrypt stuff, back it
up to many optical media, and send copies to his editor and publisher and
lawyer and maybe keep one in a bank.

That's a sub optimal solution but it's better tuan what he's got now.

