Re: [tlug] Poll: OpenOffice or LibreOffice?

[Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>]

On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 12:54 AM, Bruno Raoult <braoult@example.com> wrote:
> On Sun, May 18, 2014 at 6:25 PM, Stephen J. Turnbull <stephen@example.com> wrote:
> A reader wants to read. A student wants to read. I want to read (and you too).
> I never had any document in tex format. If some writer wants to use it, fine.
> If some other prefer NewBrFormat, fine. As long as the final result
> (for readers)
> is correct.
>
> Again, LaTeX is probably very good. But for elite. Then going to disappear.


Just wondering...did it ever occur to you to learn a little bit of
LaTeX before declaring that it is going to disappear?  You're sounding
a lot more like someone who is making excuses to not learn something
new than someone who is able to look into the future and see the
future of text processing...

As for Stephen's patient postings to help you see beyond what you
know, I personally think that LaTeX is good for not just for
mathematics.   What it produces just looks nicer, just as Microsoft
Word looks nicer than handwriting, it is nicer than Microsoft Word.
LaTeX is analogous to a typesetter and not a word processor.  The only
way for LaTeX to disappear is if someone comes up with a similar
software that does it better (much like how WordPerfect "disappeared"
because of Microsoft Word).

You might ask, "Who cares?".  Well, one big part of communication is
presentation.  Ask anyone who writes a CV and spends the extra time to
make it look nice.


> By the way, what it the official format in CERN (which I consider an elite too,
> and inventor of our current web)?
> If you work in an university, you surely exchange a lot of docs with
> them, and know
> what they prefer to use internally.


I'm not sure how best to respond to this...

Why would you think that CERN is at the centre of the academic
universe and anyone who works in academia must work with CERN?

I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry...

Ray