hello again
thank you very much for the input.
apparently noone have any slideshow presentations introducing lyx to the ignorant word user.
i hereby suggest we make one - and perhaps even include it in the documentation on lyx.org?
but first i will summon up the pro/con input from the mailing list:
pros: =====
* easy to use and stable
Also very easy to learn. (Much less to learn than with Word).
* free
* well written and intelligent docs
* focus on content instead of layout
* the printed output is truely typeset giving nicer output
* table of contents, lists, etc are automatic (with no errors like word)
* superb bibliographies using bibtex
* cross references are awesome
* cross references (and citition dito) are automatically numbered and maintained
* departmental/group standard documents gets lean
* math equations are handled professionally
* journals may provide latex classes of thier own
* it is possible to make pdf files with pdflatex
* uses a text file format allowing for easy and full back compatibility
* encourages structured thinking with putting in the section and subsection when one starts writing
* tables and graphics within tables is possible
* minitoc is a nice feature
* great at placement of figures etc. no orphans.
* figure placement are superior and true to typesetting
cons: =====
* lyx/word exchange is horrible
* the word position in the printed doc is not the same as on the screen
* a longer learning curve once you need to move beyond the basics
* you will hit very quickly the ceiling of lyx and have your documents full of ERT
Only if you want to do very special things. Most 'ordinary' users will never need to include any ERT. They will be able to write hundreds of documents, thousands of words, beautifully typeset without giving a thought to anything but content.
* latex is hard to debug. error messages are usually quite meaningless
* lyx on windows is still a bit of a challenge
* not very many people uses lyx. you need to bring your own laptop with lyx always.
did i miss anything important in the above?
is it not a strong argument that the entire body of litterature within the sciences is typeset with latex? (is this true?)
now for the layout of the slideshow (first the thinking/brainstorming part - your help is ugently needed!).
i will suggest something around 20 slides and if possible examplify all of the above pros. and of couse, one should also mention the cons ...
1 cover slide
1 slide with introduction
1 slide with tex/latex/lyx history and use
some slides giving a graphical tour just like on lyx.org
a couple of slides showing how to insert citation references (this really seem to win peoples hearts)
a couple of slides on how to install lyx
1 final slide with pros and cons
suggestions to the composition of this slideshow is welcome - and if anyone have ideas to any particular slide, dont hesitate.
best regards
martin
regards John O'Gorman
