| Developer(s) | GNU Aspell developers |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 0.60.6.1 / July 4, 2011 |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Spell checker |
| License | LGPL |
| Website | aspell.net |
GNU Aspell, usually called just Aspell, is a free software spell checker designed to replace Ispell. It is the standard spell checker for the GNU software system. It also compiles for other Unix-like operating systems and Windows. The main program is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL), the documentation under the GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL). Dictionaries for it are available for about 70 languages. The primary maintainer is Kevin Atkinson.
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Unlike Ispell, Aspell can also easily check documents in UTF-8 without having to use a special dictionary. 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., ispell text-file-with-spelling-errors, Aspell requires other command line options and the '--help' option is more comprehensive. Sample uses include:
As of October 2011[update] the latest official Windows port of GNU Aspell was still 32-bit version 0.50.3 (Dec 2002), with dictionaries of similar age.[1] 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.[2] However, the LyX project maintains a separate fork of Aspell for Windows and dictionaries, and say "the LyX project has long solved the Windows packaging problem by forking Aspell", although as of October 2011[update] the latest versions were dated 2009.[3][4]
Aspell has been integrated into software such as Pidgin, Gajim,[5] Digsby, LyX, Notepad++ and previously Opera,[6][7] gedit and AbiWord.
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