> I get a GTKDEF error telling me to use unit in lcl bur this dosn't work as the lcl is root in linux.
I think Richmemo does require some defs as its still very much under development. So, it has different things defined for different versions of Lazarus. But that, IMHO, does not necessarily require you to be editing your LCL files. Maybe you could give a bit more detail about the error you get ? What it wants defined, where ....
OTOH, most people do, sooner or later, especially on Linux, do build their own Lazarus from source and, for reasons like this, find life a lot easier.
Another suggestion, KControls has a thing called KMemo, its more stable (indeed, perhaps too stable) but does do most of what you would expect, Windows, Mac and Linux.
Davo