Re: tlug: (La)TeX, SGML, or ... ?

[Jonathan Byrne <jq@example.com>]

On Sat, 26 Dec 1998, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:

> "Editable graphically."  Arg.  Min.  I mean, sai-tei.  Kudaranai.  Oh
> well, there goes the neighborhood, even Jonathan's succumbed.

I've actually always basically been a supporter of WYSIWYG word
processing.  I've been an opponent of that approach to HTML mostly because
the output of WYSIWYG HTML editors is usually garbage.  I actually
wouldn't mind learning LaTeX, though, and in fact regard it as a good
skill.  However, it's basically a matter of time.  I may have time to
write the manual, but I don't really have time just now to learn LaTeX.

I'd like to thank everybody for their suggestions on this topic, and I'm
sure I'll find the right solution among them.  I'll play withy LyX a bit
over the winter holiday, and also look into the SGML DTDs that were
suggested.

Someone had suggested just doing it in HTML, and using either Applix or
Netscape (de)Composer to edit it.  This wouldn't be workable, however,
since HTML just wouldn't be a very good choice for this (as some have
noted, HTML is an impoverished DTD that isn't very good for document
production).  (de)Composer also doesn't produce particularly good HTML.  I
don't know how Applix's editor does, but I fundamentally dislike HTML
editors and write all my HTML in Xemacs.

Someone asked about the MS Word filters in Applix, and the answer is that
they suck (although rumor has it that the latest English version has
better ones).  Even if they didn't suck, though, it wouldn't matter, 'cuz
nobody in the department (including me) has anything that reads MS Word
files :-)

My reason for not believing the manual I'm planning will not need to be
translated to Japanese is simply that English is the primary internal
language at GOL, and the native Japanese-speaking engineers are all
proficient in English, so they would have no problem with using the
English manual.  However, just in case, is there a Japanese-enabled
version of LaTeX?  TurboLinux-J has a Japanese TeX, but no mention is made
of a LaTeX-J.  Or am I just not looking in the right place?  I know LyX is
not Japanese-enabled, unfortunately.

And now to branch off on a tangent of sorts :-)  The introductory section
in LyX says that "TeX" is pronounced to rhyme with "blech."  Now, I
pronounce "blech" with an unvoiced velar fricative at the end (in more
familiar terms, it would sound like the final sound in "Bach" when
pronounced by a German speaker).  Is this correct, or do they have a
different pronunciation of "blech" than I do?  Sorry to ask such a basic
question, but I've never heard anyone pronounce either TeX or LaTeX, but
they say that if you pronounce it like the rubber stuff, that's wrong.
So, then, what's right? 

Thanks again for all the good info on this.

Cheers,

Jonathan Byrne                                   Engineering Division
Global Online Japan                              http://www.gol.com/
Tel:  +81 03-5334-1700   Fax: +81-03-5334-1701   Direct: +81-03-5334-1756

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