Linked by Killermike on Tue 27th Feb 2007 16:49 UTC
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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RE[2]: Wordprocessors warning
by sb56637 on Tue 27th Feb 2007 18:38
in reply to "RE: Wordprocessors warning"
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:
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.