Install wordgrinder with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• wordgrinder

Project history

The official README revision history records WordGrinder 0.1 on 2007-10-14 as the initial release. The project then moved through rapid early improvements: word count in 0.2, autosave and export improvements in 0.3, and a 2009 relicensing to MIT in 0.3.3.

The 2013 0.4 series was a major portability and format transition. The changelog records OpenDocument import/export, a much smaller file format, a proper Windows port, and a move to Lua 5.2. Version 0.5.1 later in 2013 fixed a serious file corruption bug and improved Windows rendering and the UI.

WordGrinder 0.6 in 2015 added a new X11 frontend, persistent settings, search improvements, undo/redo, spellchecking, smart quotes, more efficient files, and Markdown export. Version 0.7 in 2017 added a plain-text diffable file format, Lua 5.3 support, official OS X support, and a new build system.

The 2020 0.8 release broadened the editor with numbered bullet styles, look-and-feel options, template support, selected-text word count, custom autosave directories, Windows console support, recent documents, Markdown import, and a large batch of import/export and filesystem fixes. Version 0.9, dated 2025-01-22, replaced X11 and Windows GDI frontends with OpenGL, added an OS X GUI version, switched the embedded interpreter from Lua to Luau, added mouse support, improved clipboard behavior, and added `--recent`.

Adoption history

WordGrinder's adoption is modest but unusually durable. The GitHub repository shows more than a thousand stars, many forks, and a long commit history, which is notable for a terminal word processor. It is packaged across common Unix-like distributions, reflecting its appeal to users who want a real document editor without a heavyweight graphical office suite.

The project has a defined user community surface as well: the README asks users to join the wordgrinder-users mailing list for questions and release news. Its multi-platform history, including Unix, Windows, OS X, and Haiku build notes, helped it remain relevant outside a single operating-system niche.

How it is used

The standard invocation is simply `wordgrinder` for a blank document or `wordgrinder README.wg` to open an existing file. The README points users to README.wg for the manual and to a man page for command-line behavior.

WordGrinder is commonly used for drafting prose in a terminal while still keeping word-processor concepts such as styles, word count, import/export, spell checking, templates, and document-oriented file formats. The plain-text diffable format introduced in 0.7 also matters to users who keep writing projects under version control.

Why package nerds care

WordGrinder matters because terminal productivity packages often stop at editors, while WordGrinder intentionally occupies the word-processor niche. It gives package users a small, scriptable-feeling writing tool with just enough document semantics to be useful.

Its long changelog is also a tidy example of pragmatic portability: Lua to Luau, ncurses to optional graphical frontends, Windows and OS X support, and import/export work were added over years without turning the application into a full office suite.

Timeline

• 2007-10-14: WordGrinder 0.1 initial release.
• 2009-12-13: WordGrinder 0.3.3 relicenses the project to MIT and improves HTML import/export behavior.
• 2013-03-24: WordGrinder 0.4 adds OpenDocument import/export, a smaller file format, a proper Windows port, and Lua 5.2.
• 2015-04-18: WordGrinder 0.6 adds X11 frontend, persistent settings, undo/redo, spellchecking, and Markdown export.
• 2017-10-30: WordGrinder 0.7 adds a plain-text diffable format, Lua 5.3, official OS X support, and a new build system.
• 2020-10-13: WordGrinder 0.8 adds template support, recent documents, Windows console support, Markdown import, and many fixes.
• 2025-01-22: WordGrinder 0.9 replaces older graphical frontends with OpenGL, adds OS X GUI support, switches to Luau, and adds mouse and clipboard improvements.

Related projects

• Lua and later Luau are central to WordGrinder's embedded scripting and implementation history.
• ncursesw, OpenGL, and GLFW support the terminal and graphical frontend story.
• Markdown, HTML, OpenDocument, LaTeX, troff, and orgmode appear in the import/export history as writing and publishing targets.

Sources

• https://cowlark.com/wordgrinder/
• https://github.com/davidgiven/wordgrinder#readme
• https://github.com/davidgiven/wordgrinder/blob/master/README.wg