11–20 of 26 posts
I simply obtained a document that was similar to what I was trying to create, made a copy, and then changed the content.
My suggestion: teach people how to use Markdown and then use markdown2pdf (which first converts to Latex and then to PDF).
Same goes for org-mode's Latex export.
My response to this post is, what on earth for? While you can use LaTeX for a ridiculous number of things [1][2][3], LaTeX is primarily a tool for typesetting technical documents. Note that word "technical" in there; why would a non-technical person want that? It's complex; you have to type ridiculous things like "\textbf" to get bold text, and "\begin{enumerate}" to make a simple list. It's complicated; you have to…
If you combine that habit with an explanation of the more common errors (like forgetting an "end" tag, or using improper nesting), then the error messages become a lot less scary. The learner, at least initially, doesn't have to try to understand what the message means, just how to deal with it.
I've taught around 20 non-technical people LaTeX. I would say that these are all good tips. But really, the only thing a non-technical person needs to learn LaTeX is to have someone sit down with them and teach them 1 on 1. I have a fairly refined lesson at this point, and can successfully teach anyone LaTeX in 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how quickly they get it. I've taught mostly undergraduates (…
What would be the problem? I've both written papers in Latex and Word, but cannot think of a discipline-related advantage.
Don't forget Lyx! In fact, I will take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to the developers and communities of Lyx, BibTex, BibDesk, Tex, Latex, Open Office, and NeoOffice. With their tools and online documentation, my wife just self-published a book, including a correctly formatted Kindle edition. She is generally not technical, but was able to figure out a workflow that worked for her and produced a really g…
I've taught around 20 non-technical people LaTeX. I would say that these are all good tips. But really, the only thing a non-technical person needs to learn LaTeX is to have someone sit down with them and teach them 1 on 1. I have a fairly refined lesson at this point, and can successfully teach anyone LaTeX in 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how quickly they get it. I've taught mostly undergraduates (…
> Biology What would be the problem? I've both written papers in Latex and Word, but cannot think of a discipline-related advantage.
My suggestion: teach people how to use Markdown and then use markdown2pdf (which first converts to Latex and then to PDF).
That doesn't work too well when writing for a conference or journal with a predefined template and style file. The obvious solution -- do all your writing in Markdown and then integrate at the very end of the workflow -- doesn't work too well because you can't tell how long the document is until you use the real template. Same goes for org-mode's Latex export.
#+LATEX-HEADER: \input{stuff.tex}
to your file to include the appropriate header magick. I'm currently using this approach to prepare my thesis in org-mode.
It's because LaTeX is old and its ubiquity has caused the field to stagnant for decades. It's an area ripe for disruption, but it's tricky due to the amount of complexity involved.