Zettlr

Christian Külker

0.1.1

2024-02-23

Introduction

Zettlr, an open-source Markdown editor, is increasingly popular among researchers, students, writers, and knowledge workers for its simplicity and advanced functionality. It uses Markdown, a lightweight markup language that emphasizes content over formatting, offering a distraction-free writing experience. This is especially useful where ease of use and cross-platform compatibility are crucial. Additionally, Zettlr integrates with reference management tools like Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/) and BibTeX (https://docs.zettlr.com/en/core/citations/), streamlining the management of bibliographies and citations in academic writing and research.

Debian 12 Bookworm Zettlr 3.0.5

This section covers the installation of Zettlr as unofficial Debian packages from the GitHub repository release site, as there is currently no official Debian package.

Installation

Install Zettlr 3.0.5 on Debian 12 Bookworm using these commands:

cd /srv/src
export V=3.0.5
export A=amd64
wget https://github.com/Zettlr/Zettlr/releases/download/v$V/Zettlr-${V}-$A.deb
apt-get install -f ./Zettlr-${V}-$A.deb

This installation includes gir1.2-gnomekeyring-1.0 and libgnome-keyring0 for the amd64 architecture. Suggested packages like quarto and tex-live are not installed by default. Quarto, an open-source scientific and technical publishing system based on Pandoc, supports dynamic content creation with Python, R, Julia, and Observable.

For ARM architecture, dependencies include:

  • libgtk-3-0:arm64
  • libnotify4:arm64
  • libnss3:arm64
  • libxtst6:arm64
  • libatspi2.0-0:arm64
  • libdrm2:arm64
  • libgbm1:arm64
  • libxcb-dri3-0:arm64

Usage

Zettlr’s binary installation location has changed from /opt/ in version 1.3.0 to /usr/bin/ in version 3.0.5. To launch Zettlr, simply use:

zettlr

On startup, Zettlr creates necessary directories and files under $HOME/.config/Zettlr. The application logs startup activities and environment checks.

Note: Zettlr does not have a manual page, and its command-line help is minimal:

zettlr --help

While Zettlr supports opening individual files, it is optimized for operating with directories.

Discussion

  1. Markdown Rendering Issues: Zettlr has difficulties with certain GitHub flavored Markdown syntax, such as displaying single Markdown pages verbatim. For instance, a text like DevOps/Tools/fzf.md, is incorrectly rendered as a hyperlink.
DevOps/Tools/
[fzf.md](fzf.md)
,
  1. Unable to Open a Work Directory on Commandline:

Opening a directory like zettlr quick-guide-en-us has not the desired effect. It will open a blank window, even though the Zettlr manual claims that the default modus operandi for Zettlr should be directories not files. Of course under “File” -> “Open Workspace” a directory can be opened and used, but for people used to work on the command line, Zettlr is not intuitive.

  1. Lint Tool Conflicts: Zettlr’s lint tool, remark-lint, conflicts with Pandoc’s handling of ‘shortcut_reference_links’. Zettlr complains about these links as remark-lint (no-shortcut-reference-link), while Pandoc processes them correctly.
Pandoc: OK
Zettlr: NG

[text]

[text]: link

Pandoc: OK
Zettlr: OK

[text][]

[text]: link

  • remark-lint

  • shortcut_reference_links

    However, even if the linter is silence by adding trailing square brackets like this [text][], then it is still not displayed as a link similar as to inline links [text](link) are displayed.

  1. UI Issues with Preferences Dialog: The preferences dialog in Zettlr may have UI issues, such as the inability to close, which could be related to the MATE desktop environment, as the preference dialog is placed under the main top panel.

  2. Bundled Pandoc: Zettlr includes Pandoc, which may be redundant for Debian users who prefer using system-wide installations of Pandoc.

  3. Command Line Option Handling: Zettlr does not provide feedback for unknown command-line options.

Debian 9 Stretch Zettlr 1.3.0

Git Installation And Start

To install Zettlr 1.3.0 on Debian 9 Stretch from source:

mkdir -p ~/g/github.com/Zettlr/
cd ~/g/github.com/Zettlr/
git clone https://github.com/Zettlr/Zettlr.git
cd Zettlr
source /srv/env/node-v12.5.0
npm install
npm install yarn
cd source
npm install
npm install yarn
cd ..
./node_modules/.bin/yarn start

This command sequence starts Zettlr, although the layout might be inconsistent.

Debian Package Installation And Start

Alternatively, install Zettlr 1.3.0 using a Debian package:

cd /srv/srv/
export V=1.3.0
export A=linux-x64


wget https://github.com/Zettlr/Zettlr/releases/download/v$V/Zettlr-${A}-$V.deb
ssh root
aptitude install libappindicator1
dpkg -i Zettlr-linux-x64-1.3.0.deb
/opt/Zettlr/zettlr

Further Reading

History

Version Date Notes
0.1.1 2024-02-23 Debian 12 Bookworm Zettlr 3.0.5
0.1.0 2019-07-15 Initial release
  • Zettlr