Re: [tlug] Poll: OpenOffice or LibreOffice?

[Jim Breen <jimbreen@example.com>]

On 18 May 2014 12:03, Darren Cook <darren@example.com> wrote:
>> Am I the only one who cannot write LaTeX here?
>
> No; I think the only people who ever learn it are academics who are
> forced to, because the journal they submit to only accepts latex.

Hmm. I learned it in the 80s, when it was about the only way of getting
a document into a format of the correct style. I drifted away from it
when I first retired(*), then went back when I became part of a research
group that uses it. I have to point out that I think virtually every conference/
workshop/journal I have interacted with in the last 5 years has
(a) wanted copy as a PDF;
(b) provided both Word and LaTeX templates.
The one exception was a workshop compilation for which I did a couple
of chapters(**) and they wanted Word. The formatting was a real
pain in the arse.

> And
> most of those will use lyx, or write in some other format and just
> convert at the end.

I tried lyx a couple of times, but I find it easier to go straight to the
source, usually via a simple markup.

> (Emphasis on *learn* it; of course once you know it, and have got the
> huge tool chain installed, then maybe you prefer it for its flexibility.

I think that's largely correct. Word and the like are good for instant
gratification, provided what you want to do it not too complex. The
investment in getting going with LaTex is greater, but once it's running
and you have your environment sorted out, I find it much easier to
generate and maintain a complex document.

(*) many years ago, when I was using OHPs for teaching, and also
putting up WWW pages of my lecture notes, I devised a simple markup
language, and dashed off a converter that turned it into both html
and LaTeX forms. The LaTeX version went into the SliTeX style for the
OHPs.  I still use it for whipping out HTML, and doing the first
draft of a document heading towards LaTeX. If it's going towards a
Word document, I usually go markup->html->Word.

(**) http://www.i6doc.com/livre/?GCOI=28001100345140

Cheers

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen
Adjunct Snr Research Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre, Monash University