GNU Aspell

Unlike Ispell, Aspell can easily check UTF-8 documents without having to use a special dictionary. But the mechanism behind is still 8-bit.{{cite book |chapter-url=http://aspell.net/0.60.7/man-html/Languages-Which-Aspell-can-Support.html#Languages-Which-Aspell-can-Support |chapter=Appendix B Languages Which Aspell can Support |url=http://aspell.net/0.60.7/man-html/index.html#Top |title=GNU Aspell 0.60.7 |access-date=2021-11-15 |quote=Even though Aspell will remain 8-bit internally}} Aspell will also do its best to respect the current locale setting. Other advantages over Ispell include support for using multiple dictionaries at once and intelligently handling personal dictionaries when more than one Aspell process is open at once. However, Ispell follows the Unix convention of being a command applied to a file, e.g., {{code|ispell text-file-with-spelling-errors}}, whereas Aspell requires other command-line options, and the "{{code|--help}}" option is more comprehensive. Sample uses include:

• Interactively run through the {{var|text_file}} checking the spelling ({{code|aspell check text_file}}).
• Allow typing a word (followed by newline and {{kbd|Ctrl-D}}) to find words that sound the same ({{code|aspell soundslike}}).

{{As of|2017|7}}, the latest official Windows port of GNU Aspell was still 32-bit version 0.50.3 (Dec 2002), with dictionaries of similar age.[http://aspell.net/win32/ Aspell Windows port page] The developer says he has "no time and very little interest in maintaining a Windows port", and has been looking for somebody to maintain it.{{cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Kevin |date=2008-04-16 |title=Need Someone to Maintain Aspell Windows Port |url=http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/aspell-announce/2008-04/msg00003.html |access-date=2008-07-06 |website=gnu.org}} However, the LyX project maintains a separate fork of Aspell for Windows and dictionaries, and says "the LyX project has long solved the Windows packaging problem by forking Aspell."{{Citation needed|date=July 2017}} LyX is being maintained and {{As of|2023|10|lc=on}} the latest version is 2.3.7, dated 7 January 2023.{{cite web |title=LyX News |url=http://www.lyx.org/News#item1 |access-date=2018-03-21 |website=lyx.org}}

The regularly updated Cygwin port of aspell can also be used in Windows and it is the latest version.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Aspell has been integrated into software such as Gajim,Gajim and Aspell: {{cite web | url = http://trac.gajim.org/wiki/SpellerHelp | title = Gajim SpellerHelp | access-date = 2011-09-12 | archive-date = 2016-04-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160426184603/https://trac.gajim.org/wiki/SpellerHelp | url-status = dead }} LyX, Notepad++, Claws Mail and previously Pidgin,{{cite web |last=Software |first=Edgewall |title=Versions older than 2.7.0 use Aspell |url=https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Installing%20Pidgin#manual_win32_spellcheck_installation |access-date=2012-09-29 |website=pidgin.im}} Opera,Opera 10 now uses Hunspell: {{cite web | url = http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2009/04/03/turbo-in-10 | title = Opera Desktop Team Blog | access-date = 2009-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012013758/http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2009/04/03/turbo-in-10 |archive-date=2011-10-12 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url = http://www.opera.com/support/tutorials/opera/spellcheck/ | title = Spell-checking With Opera | access-date = 2006-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515235708/http://www.opera.com/support/tutorials/opera/spellcheck/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-05-15 }} gedit and AbiWord.

{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

• Enchant
• Hunspell
• Ispell
• MySpell
• Pspell
• Virastyar

{{Reflist}}

• [http://aspell.net Aspell Homepage]
• [http://aspell.net/suggest/ Aspell Spell Helper]
• [http://aspell.net/test/ Test Results of Aspell Compared to Other Spell Checkers]
• [http://aspell.net/man-html/index.html The GNU Aspell documentation] under the GNU Free Documentation License
• [http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/aspell/ GNU Aspell download page] (FTP link)
• [http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/LyXWinInstaller LyXWinInstaller (includes Aspell for Windows)]
• [http://lists.freedesktop.org/pipermail/utf-8/2004-February/000005.html Aspell and UTF-8/Unicode]
• [http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/aspell/ GNU Aspell summary page] at Savannah
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040925091906/http://cocoaspell.leuski.net/ Mac OS X interface for Aspell]
• [https://code.google.com/p/unix-spell/ Original Unix spell (1978-81), on which Aspell is based]

{{GNU}}

Category:GNU Project software

Category:Spell checkers

Category:Free software programmed in C++

Category:Free spelling checking programs

Category:Language software for Linux

Category:Language software for macOS

Category:Language software for Windows

Category:Software using the GNU Lesser General Public License