As a writer, there are times when trying concentrate on what I’m writing is an impossible task.
The more the bounds between the modern web and desktop blur, the more crowing distractions surround me, be it Facebook pokes, quick Wikipedia checks that wind down rabbit-holes, or the urge to Stumbleupon my way to …Anything other than what I should be doing.
But there are purpose-designed tools available to us that can help us be more in the moment, and less on other peoples’ moments.
PyRoom is a free, open-source text editor that “stays out your way – and keeps other things out of your way, too”.
—Sounds more like my ideal party than a focused text editor, but I digress…
PyRoom is simple by design. Which is another way of saying it doesn’t do much.
But what it does do, it does intently. It’s a distraction free text editor that runs full-screen, “without buttons, widgets, formatting options, menus and with only the minimum of required dialog windows“, it says.
Here’s what that lack of anything looks like in action: –
Blocking out the incessant demands of the internet, and pulled the shutter down on the app icons and just-one-more-tab temptations, the idea is you will focus on putting words on the page.
“PyRoom’s full screen writing environment gets your computer out of the way so that you can focus on your work. The result is a subtle clearing of the mind that helps you write better,” says the website.
A purely text-based editor, PyRoom’s super minimal UI offers is no support for inserting images, adding flourishes like block quotes or special formatting (bold, italic, hyperlinks, code etc) — worth bearing in mind if you need to write more than plain text.
Owing to the lack of traditional GUI you’ll need to open PyRoom’s Preferences window (screenshot, right) by pressing CTRL + P.
From there, you can configure the essential options like font family, size, and margins, adjust the overall app theme (it’s void black by default but there’s plenty of customisation control), dial in a preferred autosave period, and more.
How to Install PyRoom on Ubuntu
PyRoom is available to install on Ubuntu directly from the official repos, no PPA requires. Open the Software Centre and search for ‘pyroom’ to find and install it.
Prefer the command-line? Run a quick sudo apt-get install pyroom instead.
Given its minimal feature set the amount of dependencies require is equally minimal.
Once installed, open it via Applications > Office > PyRoom. The app will run full-screen so be prepared for that — you can exit it at any time using keyboard shortcuts or the quit open you see on screen.