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Re: Follow-up to Linux experimentation thread

Subject: Re: Follow-up to Linux experimentation thread
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 12:09:30 -0800

Gilger.John wrote:

Since TeX and LaTeX do not use a GUI, many people don't take the time to
learn them.
Although I'm pretty confident about Linux shells these day, this is one case in which I sympathize with those who want a GUI. You don't need to see a file to copy it from one directory to another, or to convert it to PDF, but design is all about visual elements. Maybe I simply haven't delved deeply enough into LaTeX, but, in my experience, designing a template with it is very cumbersome because it isn't a GUI.

Nor is LaTeX nearly as convenient for the tweaking of individual elements as Quark or InDesign. You can, indeed, do more things than many people imagine, but it's rather like using a two metre long chainsaw to prune a bonzai tree.

Its usefulness depends, I suppose, on how ambitious your design is. For a basic design with little variation, it works extremely well.

This is unfortunate because they are not that hard to use.
However, there is a graphical "word processor" program for TeX/LaTeX
called "LyX" (http://www.lyx.org/) that is available. I haven't tried it
yet.

It's not bad. Its functionality reminds me of the various GUIs for XML that I've seen. For any really advanced layout, however, users would be better off with LaTeX.

Also, for those interested in such things, I believe that it's not free or open source software.


--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"I was close to understanding, I never felt so fine
The angels leave on horseback, but the devils are all mine,
I knew I'd live forever, I was flying down the years
Till I heard the sound of morning, breaking glass around my ears."
-OysterBand, "This Town"





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References:
RE: Follow-up to Linux experimentation thread: From: Gilger.John

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