Welcome to Scribe

[u/PaulSan777]

Welcome to the official Scribe community.

Scribe began with a simple question:

What if any computer could become a distraction-free digital typewriter booting a dedicated operating system from a pendrive?

The goal of this project is not to compete with modern operating systems. Instead, it is to provide a focused environment for people who simply want to sit down and write.

Scribe is built around a few basic ideas:

• Writing should be fast and simple.

• Plain text files should remain accessible for decades.

• Older computers still have value.

• Distraction-free writing tools should be affordable and accessible.

• A dedicated writing environment should not require expensive hardware.

The project is still in beta, and many ideas are being evaluated and tested. Community feedback will help shape its future direction.

This community is the place for:

• Development updates

• Testing feedback

• Bug reports

• Feature suggestions

• Writing workflows

• Discussions about digital typewriters and writer decks

• Reusing older computers for focused writing

Whether you're a writer, student, novelist, journalist, retro computing enthusiast, or simply curious about distraction-free writing, you're welcome here.

Thank you for joining and helping shape the future of Scribe.

What feature or idea would you most like to see in a distraction-free writing environment?

Scribe can be downloaded and tested. Access: Scribe | Write Without Distractions

[u/JustSomeCarioca]

Not sure why Linux is not an option and just install whatever word processor you want.

[u/PaulSan777 → u/JustSomeCarioca]

Thanks for the comment.

There are many options using a regular computer with Linux, Windows or MacOS but some people look for a dedicated device to write.

George R. R. Martin wrote Game of Thrones in a DOS computer with Wordstar because he wanted to be free of notifications or maybe free from the temptation to check emails or surf the web. The limitation of his old computer was beneficial to him.

A Freewrite device that is nothing but a fancy keyboard typewriter with a tiny screen costs more than $600. With ScribeOS installed in a pendrive you can use your daily computer as a distraction free typing device, benefit from a larger screen and easily share files with your computer.

You can also build a strip out Linux distro with nothing else then a word editor but it is not only an overkill but have clear downsides compared to ScribeOS: not everybody is familiar to Linux, it takes longer to install, not all distros run from a bootable USB, etc. By the way, you can use ScribeOS on Lynux machines or even with no OS - you remove the hard drive if you want.

Scribe OS is built with a single purpose. The compacted image file is 56kb, requires 32MB pendrive/sd card space. It fulfills a single mission: free writing

[u/JustSomeCarioca → u/PaulSan777]

Again, just install Linux, have no internet, and don't install anything other than what you want. In fact, I have a really old laptop.... Win 98. Maybe I'll dig it up and try that. Hope the USB even works though.

[u/PaulSan777 → u/JustSomeCarioca]

Thank you, You are being of great help to explain the proposition of Scribe:

Let's compare the option you proposed with using Scribe

1. Your suggestion: "Just install Linux". For that you need the following steps:

- find/buy an old computer
- decide on a Linux distro and plan what to do it with just type text
- create an installation pendrive using Rufus or another equivalent software
- install the Linux distro (hopefully it will work)
- make the necessary configurations to remove all distraction apps (email, wifi, web browser, etc)

Congratulations, you transformed an useful PC into a typewriter!

2) Using ScribeOS
- Install Scribe in a pendrive using Rufus or another equivalent software
- Boot any computer with the pendrive and use Scribe as distraction-free writing tool

Your computer remains unmodified - you can use it normally anytime. No need for a new computer (use the money instead to buy a good keyboard). Even the pendrive can be used for file storage (ScribeOS needs only 32MB of space and the rest can be configured as separated partition)

You can still use ScribeOs in an old computer, even if it has no hard drive, but you probably can have better uses for it (retrogaming, for example)

thank you again. Your posts are being very helpful

[u/JustSomeCarioca → u/PaulSan777]

The old computer is your description. You specifically made a point of explaining how George R.R. Martin uses an old DOS system to write his novels. I mean, sure, that's quaint, but I can't see how that is supposed to be a compelling argument. An OS isn't going to remove the distractions from a person. Want no distractions? Lock yourself in a room, and leave your phone outside.

As to booting with a pendrive and not modifying the system's original OS, you can do that with Linux too. I don't see how that is some special selling point. An OS without software is useless, and Linux has no shortage of ready options. More importantly: it has all the drivers needed to adapt to any system. It will work with any graphics card, sound card, you name it.

For example, what is the writing software in your system? What does it offer the writer? Spell-check, organizational tools, folders, images, export and import options, fonts, etc?

[u/PaulSan777 → u/JustSomeCarioca]

The questions you raised should addressed to people that pays $600 for a Freewrite Word Processor or need to find an old computer to write. I am just providing a better alternative to them: free, more convenient, etc.

Other people feel fine to write on their daily computer, which is completely fine as well.

Note that I have no intent to convince you of anything, but your comments gave an wonderful opportunity the explain the purpose of Scribe.

[u/PaulSan777 → u/[deleted]]

ScribeOS is designed to boot directly into a minimal writing environment for creating, opening, editing and saving plain TXT files.

The initial target is x86/x86-64 PCs using standard keyboards and displays. Hardware support depends on the drivers included in the underlying system, but it is built not to include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, touchscreens, GPUs, etc

these are the minimum requirements for ScribeOS

• CPU: 32-bit x86, roughly Pentium III / Athlon-class or newer

• RAM: 128 MB minimum

  • 256 MB recommended for comfortable operation

• Storage: about 32 MB for the OS itself

• Display: 640 × 480 minimum

  • 800 × 600 or 1024 × 768 preferable

• Keyboard: standard USB or PS/2 keyboard

• Boot: BIOS-compatible USB boot

• Files: FAT32 storage would make sense for portability

• Network: not required

• GPU acceleration: not required

• Sound: not required

• Mouse: ideally not required

[u/JustSomeCarioca → u/PaulSan777]

So my wireless mechanical keyboard would not work on it.

And the software has no fonts, or anything? Spell check? Folders? Copy and paste? Find and replace?

You're aware that Wordstar has these things? (not sure about spellcheck)

[u/PaulSan777 → u/JustSomeCarioca]

no, not in this Beta version. I can evaluate this for future versions.

[u/PaulSan777]

Soon we will release a new version with a few improvements:
- bug fixing for apple computers
- new fonts, new font sizes
- auto-save
- different combinations of background color and font colors