text editing in ubuntu

[steve]

hi all,

i've been lurking for a while. and i'm quite impressed by how helpful you 
all are.

i've been double booting linux with windows for many years. i went with 
slackware for a long time, being a minimalist at heart. i suffered 
unsupported hardware and lack of sympathetic user groups [those were the 
days] because it was not windows and i'm a 'help someone if you can' kind of 
guy. however, i have certain requirements and litle time [don't want to go 
into that now - but i'm not an ict pro, by any means].

i love linux and i've always wanted to ditch windows completely but have 
never found a satisfactoty means of editing text, or of editing text in 
email. i also need a good html editor. [looking at screem at the moment]. in 
an ideal world i'd learn to use cli apps or emacs. i'd also like to win the 
lottery, but it ain't gonna happen. even though a pigeon shit on my head the 
other day.

i've persevered with windows largely due to the efforts of a japanese 
programmer, tomohiro norimatsu, the author of the text editor 'dana' and the 
email client 'rebecca', both fully featured but more importantly both 
bulletproof, as it were. many users of those progs have begged him to 
produce linux versions of those apps to no avail.

tonight i tried to do the simplest of things, one would have thought. i 
tried to edit a text file with gedit. after a few operations i lost focus on 
the editing window  the 'i-beam cursor was was impotent. save file, reopen, 
here we go again. a few operations and the i-beam is taunting me. and there 
is no evidence of wordwrap whatsoever. what gives?

i tried editing the text file in a kmail window and it would not wrap. again 
the edit window lost focus after a few operations. strange though it may 
seem, this email has worked perfectly. hang on, saving to outbox and re-
editing, wordwrap is cludgy. could there be a simple explanation?

ubuntu netbook remix on samsung nc10
kate installed but likewise dysfunctional
kate uninstalled - nothing changes

could any one recommend a fairly advance means of editing text that doesn't 
involve an immense learning curve, never mind drag and drop, but visual word 
wrap would be good.

all tips gratefully received.

steve

maschino maschino yello