Thanks Amir! This is the kind of feedback I need.
[...MS Word ...]
> Why tell them what we can't do? Good for a readme, maybe, but not for an
> announce. I don't think anyone's about to delete their traditional word
> processor the day they download LyX.
I think (and I REALLY do) it works the other way around. We're more credible
by a small display of honesty. And what's more, it allows us to slip in
through the back door our understanding of the utter absurdity of the whole
idea of an 'inalienable right' of every WP to create its own internal binary
format and then including import/export facilities for all other such beasts
in existence, instead of just agreeing on one standard, well documented,
legible format and if necessary converting to/from that, as scientists and
other smart people have been doing since the dawn of time... We should
really make this point, IMHO.
> > Typically, people seeing documents
> > produced with LyX/LaTeX comment on how good looking they are!
[...]
> I also think the last sentence doesn't help. Obviously we think latex
> documents look nice. A few "quotes from users" (which I think were on the
> mailing list in that same thread) would IMO be more effective.
Hmmmm. Don't remember seeing those. What's the best quotes you have seen?
Below the part updated (more or less) according to your other remarks.
Public release of LyX version 1.0.0
===================================
What is LyX?
------------
LyX is a free document processor providing a modern approach to writing
documents on your computer. Compared to common word processors, LyX
makes you more productive by delegating the gory details of the typesetting
job to the computer. You become immediately productive for writing short
notes or letters, but really shines when composing complex documents like
movie scripts and doctoral theses (real-life examples!).
Technically, this is done by combining the comfortable interface of a
WYSIWYG word processor -- in which you will feel right at home -- with
the high quality output of a real typesetting system. LyX interfaces with
LaTeX, the most popular typesetting software available; however, no
familiarity with LaTeX is required.
LyX operates under a paradigm different from that of conventional word
processors. You set the "ground rules" for your document, but leave the
finer points of document layout to LyX's highly advanced, intelligent
rendering engine -- the LaTeX typesetting system. We call this WYSIWYM --
What You See Is What You MEAN. All the common formatting intelligence of
LaTeX is visually presented, such as a table-of-contents window acting
as an outline browser, "live" reference links to figures, tables
and literature references, section and list numbering, and more. The
result is to liberate the author from many of the headaches associated
with typical word processing. However, this does limit your freedom to
change the document layout rules on-the-fly, intentionally or otherwise.
Release 1.0 includes several standard formats and templates that will,
without effort by the author, produce documents of a particular format.
There is a growing library of formats and templates which will allow
the user to write a wide range of documents.
LyX is native to the Unix platform, and provides native support for
postscript fonts and figures. It contains an especially strong, fully
integrated formula editor, which adds WYSIWYG convenience to LaTeX's
powerful and flexible formula-writing capabilities.
LyX has excellent on-line help, including a beginner's tutorial, a
user's guide, and a manual for advanced users; its menu system has been
localized into a dozen different (Latin character set) languages,
each of which can be selected at run time.
One feature lacking from LyX is import of MS Word documents. So, if you
need continued access to these legacy documents, you should also keep
a traditional word processor (like Corel's WordPerfect for Linux) on
your disk.
All in all, LyX is a complete environment for writing documents. It has
superior support for scientific writing, but works well for any kind of
document.
Read more about LyX (including screen shots) at:
http://www.lyx.org/
What's new compared to LyX version 0.12.0?
------------------------------------------
Most importantly, import of existing LaTeX documents using the new reLyX
perl script. Better support for SGML/LinuxDoc, tables, and
indexing/bibliographies, etc. Summing up, it's just better looking,
better working, better documented, and lots of bugs have been fixed.
[rest clipped. Anybody any corrections on ftp/http sites?]
Martin
