Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > alt.os.linux.slackware > #34132

Re: Latex

Show all headers | View raw

On 2023-03-12, Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> maus <maus@mail.com> wrote:
>> Lamport's book on latex is all you will ever need.

I repeat, lamport's  book is all you will ever need, standard tools.. 


>
> It would be good if the books criticized the design of TeX,
> but regrettably nobody dares to criticize what they teach to newbies.
> One of the issues is that TeX does not come from the UNIX world,
> but from TOPS-20, and that makes the design of TeX quite monolythic.
> Over the time people have written tools to interact with TeX
> and LaTeX in a UNIX-like way.

There is a lady who used to post on folklore.computers. She admired
TOPS, forget which. BAH. In ways, she was a  PITA about it. I have used
Linux since it was first proposed. Main problem is the people who want
to  turn into Windows, mostly assholes ("Why should I not work as `root'
is typical.)

I use Latex for letters, which, since I returned from hospital, I seldom
write.
>
> I would not rely on the default tools latex or pdflatex (which is
> what the tutorials tell newbies to do), but instead would use
> latexmk which is part of the official TeXlive distribution).

Texlive is bloated. Tex, Latex is all you need.
>
> latexmk makes compiling documents much nicer.  I really hate being
> thrown into interactive mode each time there is an error in the
> document (and when you are a newbie you make a lot of errors).
>
Its part of learning. If you never sat on a potty, you will find life
difficult.


> Also, another way TeX deviates from the UNIX way of doing things is
> that there is no independent preprocessor like cpp or ratfor.
> People had to write additional tools in perl and python to do
> things like substituting macros or include files (latexpand).

perl, regrettably, is fading into the path. I use ruby. I find the
problem with python is the versions. Debian has moved to 3.0+


>
> Another thing that will piss off somebody from the UNIX world is how
> poor the manpage documentation is.  There is an info manual.
> It does document the language quite well, but does not say much about
> the CLI tools.  In emacs you should see it with
>
> M-: (info "(latex2e) Top")

Mein Gott, someone still uses emacs!
>
> Part of the reason for such a poor documention of the CLI tools is
> that many users of LaTeX do not use CLI tools but an IDE-like
> integrated editor like texworks.

those IDE tools are the  signs that someone wants to use Windows, but is
ashamed to admit it.

>
> In fact, TeX is not very popular among UNIX programmers, and software
> documentation is seldom written in LaTeX (with the exception of people
> doing maths and physics).

I agree. For some purposes, markdown tools are easier. I use
asciidoctor. I still dont know how to enter some things.
>
> I began using both LaTeX and UNIX almost at the same time, so I was
> not really questioning the design of TeX when I was learning, but the
> OP, who has been using UNIX for decades, will be shocked by the design
> of the TeX tools.
>
> For the OP, I would think twice before diving into LaTeX.  It has many
> pitfalls, error reporting is not always clear and takes long time to learn.
> If the OP has a simpler way of writing letters, I would put LaTeX aside.


the less I use a mouse, the better I like it.  When I was in hospital,
a doctor arrived  one day to propose an operation to  remove a pain in
my right arm. ("Only 1% die during the operation.")

I got home, avoided computer games and the mouse,, and the pain
diappeared.



-- 
greymausg@mail.com
where is our money gone, Dude?

Back to alt.os.linux.slackware | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-02-20 19:29 -0400
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2023-02-21 02:55 +0000
    Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Peter 'Shaggy' Haywood <phaywood@alphalink.com.au> - 2023-02-22 12:32 +1100
      Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2023-02-22 13:28 +0000
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-02-21 06:34 +0000
    Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-03-05 19:14 -0400
      Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-03-06 06:54 +0000
        Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-03-08 01:25 -0400
          Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-03-08 20:48 +0000
            Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-03-11 03:24 -0400
              Re: Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2023-03-11 09:25 +0000
              Re: Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-03-11 10:13 +0000
                Re: Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... maus <maus@mail.com> - 2023-03-11 11:30 +0000
                Re: Latex Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-03-12 03:52 +0000
                Re: Latex maus <maus@mail.com> - 2023-03-12 08:59 +0000
                Re: Latex Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-03-12 11:04 +0000
                Re: Latex Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-03-12 17:10 +0000
                Re: Latex Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-03-12 17:48 +0000
                Re: Latex Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2023-03-12 20:42 +0000
                Re: Latex Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-03-12 21:17 +0000
                Re: Latex Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2023-03-13 20:08 +0000
                Re: Latex Jim Diamond <JimDiamond@ns.sympatico.ca> - 2023-03-13 21:14 -0300
                Re: Latex Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqvist@deadspam.com> - 2023-03-15 06:26 +0000
                Re: Latex Jim Diamond <JimDiamond@jdvb.ca> - 2023-03-20 16:05 -0300
                Re: Latex Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-03-13 00:54 -0300
              Re: Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... Eric Pozharski <whynot@pozharski.name> - 2023-03-11 14:27 +0000
              Re: Latex Re: Tnx Re: Ping Henrik Re: Networking problem... Jim Diamond <JimDiamond@ns.sympatico.ca> - 2023-03-13 21:21 -0300
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS John Forkosh <forkosh@panix.com> - 2023-02-21 07:56 +0000
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Marco Moock <mo01@posteo.de> - 2023-02-21 14:47 +0100
    Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-21 21:29 +0000
      Sendmaail (WAS: Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS) Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2023-02-21 19:50 -0400
        Re: Sendmaail (WAS: Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS) Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> - 2023-02-21 21:27 -0700
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Javier <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-21 21:19 +0000
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Giovanni <lsodgf0@home.net.it> - 2023-02-22 12:59 +0100
  Re: Networking problem trying to set up CUPS Peter 'Shaggy' Haywood <phaywood@alphalink.com.au> - 2023-02-22 13:00 +1100

csiph-web