On Fri, 20 Feb 2009, David Hewitt wrote:
I tend to agree with Konrad. I happily wrote my dissertation in LyX and only stumbled into LaTeX on an as-needed basis, primarily using the Koma-script documentation, package documentation at CTAN, and the LyX mailing list. I quite frankly don't even know the difference between LaTeX and TeX. But, maybe I SHOULD have looked at Steve's book... will do so now.
My book was published by Springer-Verlag and used their svmono LaTeX class. They have a TeXpert on staff (who had me change all \textellipsis to \ldots; a _very_ subtle difference, but that's their standard). While I've looked recently and briefly at The TeXbook, I found the most valuable references were The LaTeX Companion (2nd Ed.), The LaTeX Graphics Companion (the 2nd Ed. wasn't out then), and Guide to LaTeX (4th Ed.). A lot depends on how we approach our writing. I use LyX for almost all my writing, and I accept the default classes and layouts because they were designed by folks much more knowledgeable than I about typography, page layout, and graphic design. Therefore, I don't futz with minor eye-candy (IMNSHO) or other tweaks. Steve and I differ greatly on our philosophy. He wants to design every aspect of his books, down to the character level. I want to have great looking typeset output but I will spend my time on the content and accept the default appearance. You pays you money, and you takes you choice. However, I learned LaTeX so I could use it to produce forms that can be read by our Optical Mark Reader (OMR) and do other fancy stuff, and after looking (and using) at about a half-dozen different vector graphic drawing tools, I finally settled on PSTricks for all that I do. My visuals for presentations are done using the beamer class in LyX. If you're writing a book or monograph, I recommend picking a style/class (such as memoir), making a decision about headings and footers, then spend your time on producing outstanding content and let the class designer format it for presentation. Just one man's opinion, Rich -- Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D. | Integrity Credibility Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. | Innovation <http://www.appl-ecosys.com> Voice: 503-667-4517 Fax: 503-667-8863
