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Modern LaTeX Replacement?

Posted by kdawson on from the hardly-seems-like-too-much-to-ask dept.

javierzinho writes "For many years I have been using LaTeX to compose scientific documents, but truly I am getting tired of its complexity. You have to install new packages for new features, compatibility issues are everywhere, you need to know commands for everything, table composition is torture, image insertion is an odyssey if you don't have the 'right' format, and you need to be a LaTeX Jedi master to create a new document class. I'm looking for a document processor (not a word processor) that is a viable replacement for LaTeX, possessing all of its advantages — consistency between text and math text, automated cross references, direct PDF creation, etc. — but that is not stuck in the 1980s with the compiler metaphor and weird font technology. An application with visual interface and so on. I've tried Scientific Word and Lyx but both are front-ends for LaTeX. Publicon only produces PDF files by exporting to LaTeX and subsequently using pdflatex. Add-ons for MS-Word are a joke, and webEq is intended for web publishing, not for PDF production. Does anybody know of a decent, scientific-structured document processor that is a modern application?"

4 of 918 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A stupid question, but I need to ask... by FlyingGuy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Good god, if it behaves like CSS its time to send it bits into the ether because that is where CSS belongs as well. Talk about a fucking abortion!

    Don't get me wrong, we need something that can do what CSS is supposed to do, but can we please make it actually fucking structured ok?

    Ohhh and one other thing, can we make it actually work well while we are at it?

    --
    Hey KID! Yeah you, get the fuck off my lawn!
  2. Mod parent up pls. by Magada · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wish I had mod points. Informative, at least.

    --
    Something bad is coming when people are suddenly anxious to tell the truth.
  3. Re: karma whore much? by irtza · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    unless you posted anonymously before, grandparent doesn't count for you.
    unless you posted anonymously before, grandparent doesn't count for you.
    unless you posted anonymously before, grandparent doesn't count for you.

    wait, this method only would get me one... d'oh!

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    When all else fails, try.
  4. Re:Misunderrtanding the problem set by Prune · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So if I use LyX and xetex, there's some way to get accurate preview in LyX that will match the xetex-created PDF?

    --
    "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."