Lyx is an open source, structured document creation system. Conceptually, it falls somewhere between a markup editor and a word processor. The creators of Lyx have coined the term WYSIWYM (what you see is what you mean) to summarise the approach that Lyx takes to document creation.
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Member since:2006-02-27
I can second that ... well the bit with MS Word. I work for a software company (enterprise client server software)and our application consultants have to frequently write 800 page long design documents for our clients ... in Word - absolute nightmare, especially if ore than one consultant works on the document. We usually spend at least 2-4 days fixing the problems created by Word, before we can send the document out to client and a reasonable (albeit not great) state. I haven't tried Lyx myself ... would it be able to handle that kind of documentation, 800 pages, diagrams screenshots, tables, cross-references, footnotes ... the lot?
Member since:2006-05-11
Wow, 800 pages. Yes, Lyx, or at least the LaTex system, is IDEAL for adding cross refs, footnotes, diagrams, everything that a professional document usually contains. In fact it was designed with that sort of document in mind. It's not worth it for a two page memo, but anything over 8 pages and it's worth the learning curve to do it in LaTex. LaTex effectively does the style proofreading so you don't have to.
Member since:2006-10-08
"Although both of these support styles, I would bet that 99% of users ignore these features and micro-format everything on the fly."
I think you're right. I just held such a ridiculous document in my hands. Glad we're using OpenOffice at work, I extracted the text and typesetted it in less than three minutes. Now it's looking fine.
"Micro-formatting" is a nice term to describe what many people - mostly home users - do with well engineered applications as OpenOffice. Styles are supported for years, but most users don't notice this. Or they don't care.
"For example, it often takes hours or days to tweak a document when a formatting change is required, or when small format change is made and the entire document is thrown into a jumbled confusion."
When I was at the university, I had to advice some students how to typeset a diploma thesis. They didn't know how to do it using their expsensive MICROS~1 programs. And what they gave in for correction simply looked terrible, just as a child has written it. Text was arranged using spaces, strucural elements were implemented via font size and decorations. Section 1 had subsections A, B and C, while section 2 had subsections I, II, III and IV. The text lines were set nearly on top of each other. No margins, no page numbers, no table of contents. And the source directory was a mess. Needless to say you can to a quite adequate diploma thesis with OpenOffice. But why isn't it done the way the developers intended it to be done? Maybe it would be an option for OpenOffice to have a "typesetting mode" which prevents the user from doing the silly stuff described above.
"Lyx / LaTex is really a beautiful tool for serious companies who don't want their writers to have to work double-duty as graphic designers. "
I totally agree and would like to {/em emphasize} two words which I think are important:
serious
Serious work requires educated judging about (1) what tool to use and (2) how to use this tool. A certain knowledge is needed to choose the right tool for each job. "Try and error" is not and educated concept for creating documents.
writer
Writers create content and structure, not text attributes. If they're serious, they concentrate on what they want to express. They use the proper means of the respective language. They plan how to structure their document. It's kids who like their text coloured, their lines rolling and their documents looking funny.
Member since:2006-05-11
>>And what they gave in for correction simply looked terrible, just as a child has written it. Text was arranged using spaces, strucural elements were implemented via font size and decorations. Section 1 had subsections A, B and C, while section 2 had subsections I, II, III and IV. The text lines were set nearly on top of each other.
Yep. At my job they were doing patent declarations, and pulling off the same tricks with MS Word. "Spacebar formatting."
Member since:2005-10-18
I try to always use styles in Word, but unfortunately, sometimes explicit formatting works more reliably in Word due to bugs. This is mostly related to lists, both numbered and bulleted - they have a nasty habit to change formatting even when set using a properly defined style. This is only exacerbated by external tools working with Word such as Trados. I've had it both in 2000 and 2003 versions, though 2003 was slightly better in this respect. OpenOffice.org is more reliable here, but has other quirks and shortcomings that prevent me from being really productive in it even when I don't need 100% MS compatibility for the job.
Member since:2006-10-08
"OpenOffice.org is more reliable here, but has other quirks and shortcomings that prevent me from being really productive in it even when I don't need 100% MS compatibility for the job."
So the LaTeX itemize and enumerate environments are what you're searching for. :-)
Member since:2005-07-06
By sb56637 (1.85) on 2007-02-27 17:39:33 UTC
Word processors like MS Word or OO.o Write are a dangerous, time-wasting tool if used.
There, I fixed it for you.
Yeah, they're perfectly adequate for a memo or a letter, but for anything of serious length there is no beating LaTeX. In the last few years, I've done two large project reports (100+ pages) in Word (because nobody else on my team had ever heard of LaTeX). It generally took two people most of a weekend to do the final print-out. Some of that was due to last-minute tweaking, but a large percentage of it was due to iterating between Word and the printer, trying to get them to agree on what the document looks like. And don't even get me started on how sketchy Word gets when handling large, complex documents.
PS> Apparently, not just my experience either. Though, I've got another anecdote to throw at Word's feet. My dad works in international development. USAID, the part of the government that handles such work, standardized on Word in the late 1990s. Every time the company sends out a proposal or final report (which generally run 50-100 pages of core text, plus several times that in appendices), they have a team of people (a lot of interns!) work out the micro-formatting. This is a process that can take the better part of a week for a large report.
Edited 2007-02-28 00:45
Member since:
2006-05-11
Word processors like MS Word or OO.o Write are a dangerous, time-wasting tool if improperly used. Although both of these support styles, I would bet that 99% of users ignore these features and micro-format everything on the fly. Many users don't want to spend the time to learn or tweak style settings for the common documents they create, but they pay for it later. For example, it often takes hours or days to tweak a document when a formatting change is required, or when small format change is made and the entire document is thrown into a jumbled confusion. Lyx / LaTex is really a beautiful tool for serious companies who don't want their writers to have to work double-duty as graphic designers.
Edited 2007-02-27 17:41