Talk:LaTeX/Introduction

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[edit] Various

This could be expanded. See my article LaTeX isn't for everyone but it could be for you --Andyr 21:45, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

I cannot seem to find instructions on how to put tabs (for paragraphs) in the text.

I removed this line, because there is no difference WYSIWYG editing is available on all platforms as well

• It is available (and transportable) across many platforms (Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux are all supported).

Err.. Tex a programming language? Imo it's just a markup language, like html, not programming.

It's a programming language aimed to typesetting, but you could (theoretically) use it for anything. PostScript is made with the same approach. You can use if-else constructs and there are packages to make dynamic calculations (that are performed while compiling). I'll point this out clearly in the main page. Alessio Damato 11:19, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Why low-level programming language? That sounds like some kind of assembly language.

if you are considering a typesetting system, then it's definitely a low-level programming language, because you have to tell the compiler where any object has to be placed, its size, etc. I can't imagine anything lower than this. In any case, it's the "lowest" approach I know for typesetting. Alessio Damato 19:23, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Hi I noticed that tetex is given as a suggested LaTeX distribution for Unix, but it's currently deprecated, and TeXLive is supposed to be used instead.

-- Ben

[edit] dvipdf and dvipdfm

I don't know the difference between dvipdf and dvipdfm, but when I have used them in the past I always got better output with dvipdfm. I have looked for info on internet, and it looks like it's not just a case, see for example http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/bit/compintro/tips.html , LaTeX section point 8. In the article, at the beginning I just wrote dvipdfm because I knew it is better, so I didn't want to write about two different tools doing the same thing, when we are sure that one always works better than the other. Is this true? is dvipdfm a good replacement of dvipdf in any case? Alessio Damato 22:28, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, dvipdfmx is the dvi-to-pdf program that is currently maintained. it has additional support for cjk, among other things. dvipdf and dvipdfm are unmaintained and there is no reason to use them. --karl@tug.org

[edit] Section "Skills needed"

I have removed the section "Skills needed", added to the bulk of the chapter later. It contained such incomprehensible claims as:

1. LaTeX is "very easy" to learn.
2. "Familiarity with publishing process is useful." From what I understand, learning LaTeX has little to do with publishing process.

I am acting on the assumption that the purpose of this book is to make the user use LaTeX effectively, finding quickly how to perform various tasks and solve problems.

--Dan Polansky (talk) 05:53, 11 September 2008 (UTC)