I would second everything that Liviu has said. I'd especially like to amplify his mention of the mailing lists. 90% of the time I've had a problem, I could immediately find mention of it on the lists, and very helpful responses. 10% of the time, I figured it out myself, usually right after asking a question to the list. The people are helpful and pretty prompt, even when questions have to do with LaTeX code instead of LyX-specific stuff.
I started using LyX in graduate school, just because it was different and fun, and now I use it for nearly all of my writing. It's immensely powerful for everything from letter-writing to producing long works, and powerful without having to learn a lot of esoteric coding or formatting. I think that trying to use it for a week, just to see if you like it, will be very useful to you in the long run. Curtis O. >________________________________ >From: Liviu Andronic <landronim...@gmail.com> >To: Johnston81 <johnsto...@gmail.com> >Cc: lyx-users@lists.lyx.org >Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 1:53 PM >Subject: Re: Engineering student considering LyX for Thesis > >On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 6:49 PM, Johnston81 <johnsto...@gmail.com> wrote: >> To the ones that can and will help, >> >> I apologize if this has already been covered in another topic; I have >> searched but been unable to find any such. If, however, you know of such >> topics, if you could please point me in the right direction? >> >> My current situation is this: I am working on my Master Thesis and currently >> doing my research and such. As it is now, I am uncertain how large my final >> project will be - I imagine that the final document will probably exceed 100 >> pages, but where I am uncertain of size I am certain that the document will >> contain considerable amounts of graphs and tables - rather more than I am >> comfortable working with in Word 2010. >> >> My questions are fairly simple to ask, I am not certain that everybody will >> agree on the answers but rough estimates are all I am looking for anyway. So >> here goes: >> >> 1. Considering LyX over Word, how much time would I approximately need to >> learn LyX to the extent that I can actually produce text, including graphics >> and formulas(!), from a template? >> >LyX excels and formulas, numbering graphics and at leaving you worry >about writing text instead of constantly tinkering with the >formatting. > >It depends on the effort that you're willing to put in and on your >penchant for technical things. You could get working knowledge in less >than two weeks, I guess, especially if you're up for a challenge >(which you seem to be). > >Once you get used to the LyX (LaTeX) ways of doing things, you will >find that generating a professional-looking document in LyX is much >easier than in Word. And LyX automatically takes care of lots of stuff >that Word will force you to deal with manually. > >For starters, I would suggest to read Help > Intro and Help > Tutorial >along with LyX Essentials [1]. Then, as you get more familiar with >working in LyX take a look at templates for theses, such as File > New >From Template > Thesis (folder) or the one proposed in [1]. There may >be some more on the wiki. Tweak them as needed, and once your happy >with the general document output start filling it in with actual text. > >[1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex > >> 2. What can I reasonably expect my learning curve to be after having learned >> the bare basics; what I mean is, is it simple to teach LyX to oneself and >> how easy is it to solve problems when encountered? >> >Can be, if you put in a decent effort. Once a threshold is passed, LyX >seems (and really is) very easy to use. After you exhausted the usual >documentation Help menu, wiki, LyX Essentials, try your luck on the >very helpful lyx-users. Some forums should be available, too. > > >> 3. And finally, being a skilled user of Word would I - ultimately - save or >> spend time if I did try my luck on LyX? >> >Using LyX would ultimately increase your productivity and improve your >typesetting results. Give it a spin, and if in a week or two you still >feel lost and don't know where to begin with then revert to Word. But >given your interest in this, I feel that you're up to the challenge >and won't need to revert, ever. > > >> I have many more similar questions, but for now this will have to do - I >> shouldn't take to much of your time! But if you have any other advice or >> experiences that relate to my post, that you feel could help me or others >> that are doing the same kind of contemplations, please do not hesitate and >> do share! >> >As far as I'm concerned LyX Essentials is a decent effort in giving >true beginners a general sense of how LyX works and how it differs >from the Word paradigm. But then, I co-wrote it, so I would be biased. > >Good luck and feel free to ask questions on this list. Regards >Liviu > > >> Thank you very much for time. I look forward to read your replies! >> >> Johnston81 >> >> -- >> View this message in context: >> http://lyx.475766.n2.nabble.com/Engineering-student-considering-LyX-for-Thesis-tp6901371p6901371.html >> Sent from the LyX - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. >> > > > >-- >Do you know how to read? >http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm >http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader >Do you know how to write? >http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail > > >
