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ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

sharelatex.com

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Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#21

Post by benrbray »

y4mi wrote: post #5
jsvcycling wrote: post #2

I've never used Overleaf, but for several years I used ShareLaTeX as my primary LaTeX editor. I've since switched to using LaTeX through emacs but I still regularly use ShareLaTeX's great documentation and if I didn't carrying my Linux laptop around everywhere, I'd probably still be using ShareLaTeX. Hopefully this new partnership won't ruin it.

Eh, I've used both and have to say that overleafs interface is way better... So no, it won't ruin it.

Overleaf has its advantages (e.g. better git integration) but I haven't heard much praise for their editor. In my own experience, the Overleaf editor is slower and more cumbersome to use than ShareLaTeX. It's much harder to rearrange files and compile time to PDF is much slower. You also can't set your main doc to be in a subdirectory of the project.

I hope this partnership means we'll soon have the ShareLaTeX frontend on top of the Overleaf backend. That would be a truly powerful combination.

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#22

Post by thanatropism »

mk321 wrote: post #6

Why it is better than offline editor (like TeXnicCenter) and code repository (like Git)?

Hahaha.

Although most users of LaTeX are in the STEM fields, they're also way too busy with actual research to find joy in dicking around with command-line tools.

I think the computer field is unusual in that computer people think everyone must be dying to learn The Way even if it costs them time and (from their perspective at least) risks significant losses. Doctors advise diet and exercise, but don't find it puzzling when people don't.

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#23

Post by [deleted] »

JohnHammersley wrote: post #15
cyphar wrote: post #3

> Yes. Both Overleaf and ShareLaTeX are committed to ensuring that all of the open ShareLaTeX code base will remain open source and will continue to be actively developed. That's a fairly disengenous answer to the question. The code is AGPLv3+ licensed and they are not the sole copyright holder (it is true that that have a CLA[1] but from a quick reading the CLA says that they "agree to also license the Contribution…

Overleaf founder here: We’re going to make sure that there is still an open source version that you can download and run yourself. We’re still working out the details of how we’ll do that, but if that involves open sourcing parts of Overleaf, then that's what we'll do.

[deleted]

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#24

Post by jpallen »

pfooti wrote: post #17

I'm somewhat bummed about this - I am a big fan of ShareLaTeX, and have been using it for quite some time. I absolutely love that the whole thing is built on an open-source engine (not just the latex part - you can self-host if you want). Overleaf has a lot of also-interesting features, and probably a more robust revenue stream, but it's always a bit of a bummer when the open-source player in the market gets bought o…

Thanks for the kind words about ShareLaTeX! It's always great to hear that people have enjoyed it.

The open source nature of ShareLaTeX isn't just about being good internet citizens, it's also been core to the ShareLaTeX business. As far as we can tell, it's only helped us to grow, from community goodwill, publicity, and onboarding for our onsite enterprise offering. We're very much bringing two thriving businesses together here, to get to where we want to get to quicker, without duplicating effort. And the open-source aspect is a strength that we plan to keep.

- James, ShareLaTeX co-founder

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#25

Post by s_kilk »

pfooti wrote: post #17

I'm somewhat bummed about this - I am a big fan of ShareLaTeX, and have been using it for quite some time. I absolutely love that the whole thing is built on an open-source engine (not just the latex part - you can self-host if you want). Overleaf has a lot of also-interesting features, and probably a more robust revenue stream, but it's always a bit of a bummer when the open-source player in the market gets bought o…

ShareLaTeX dev here.

We're very much committed to that statement, we wouldn't say it otherwise :)

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#26

Post by itsmenow »

I personally much prefer using a local setup (editor+plugins+instantaneous compiling, etc), but of course collaboration is painful that way, especially given my collaborators much prefer web-based/shared work-flows. Just few days ago, however, discovered that I can use an overleaf project as just a git repo, then push/pull as I see fit. That is an amazing feature!... everyone get to work how they want. Hope that it stays included with the free version.

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#27

Post by jpallen »

Hey, James from ShareLaTeX here. We’re very excited about what this means for ShareLaTeX and Overleaf! The blog post says most of what we wanted to say, but all four founders from ShareLaTeX and Overleaf are around this evening (we’re in the UK) to answer questions if you have any. Give us a little while to reply though, since we’re all trying to have dinner too! :)

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#28

Post by beck5 »

cyphar wrote: post #3

> Yes. Both Overleaf and ShareLaTeX are committed to ensuring that all of the open ShareLaTeX code base will remain open source and will continue to be actively developed. That's a fairly disengenous answer to the question. The code is AGPLv3+ licensed and they are not the sole copyright holder (it is true that that have a CLA[1] but from a quick reading the CLA says that they "agree to also license the Contribution…

ShareLaTeX founder here.

Just to confirm, the goal here is to say that the open source will not be left to rot in the corner, its going to remain at the centre of the company. You will see updates and improvements coming in the future.

Re: ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf

#29

Post by storrgie »

JohnHammersley wrote: post #15
cyphar wrote: post #3

> Yes. Both Overleaf and ShareLaTeX are committed to ensuring that all of the open ShareLaTeX code base will remain open source and will continue to be actively developed. That's a fairly disengenous answer to the question. The code is AGPLv3+ licensed and they are not the sole copyright holder (it is true that that have a CLA[1] but from a quick reading the CLA says that they "agree to also license the Contribution…

Overleaf founder here: We’re going to make sure that there is still an open source version that you can download and run yourself. We’re still working out the details of how we’ll do that, but if that involves open sourcing parts of Overleaf, then that's what we'll do.

Almost all of my team has individual subscriptions to sharelatex because we felt it was better from a books perspective to show there is more individual interest in an open source solution than corporate interest. We specifically chose sharelatex instead of overleaf so we could host our own instance. We've largely moved away from using sharelatex but still keep our subscriptions active as a form of support for continued development.

I hope what you say is true about the commitment to open source.

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