Taco Hoekwater wrote:
What do you do with ConTeXT?
I first learned ConTeXt because of work:
My employer makes measuring instruments for industry and I write and/or
compile and layout the end-user manuals for those instruments.
Traditionally, those manuals were written and edited in Word, but when
the mass of text and the amount of figures grew, it was obvious that I
needed a new tool before becoming a total wreck due to corrupted and
unruly Word files. A workmate had written his thesis in TeX and started
to look for various TeX based solutions, of which I finally chose ConTeXt.
I had to stick to Windows because of work. We first tried MikTeX, but
that just didn't work out. Then I got TeXLive and it worked - except
fonts.... Hours later and with the help of the email list I finally
found the correct combination of magical lines and there it was. And
then somebody mentioned that I could get Emacs with Context-mode in
Windows and that's it. That's still how I run ConteXt at work, although
now there are easier Windows options available (not to talk about the
Mac option...). Using Emacs usually gains points from younger nerds we
occassionally employ. :-)
ConTeXt was the first TeX based system I've ever used, but I was used to
using styles and had done HTML (still do it by hand), so I have some
idea of what I was getting into. Looking back I realize that I've
learned an awful lot of things although I often feel that I don't know
any of the things I should. Having to do something new usually results
in curses at the beginning, but when it works, it always works. I'll
still use Word (and equivalents) for small stuff, but when I need
something big and printable, ConTeXt is the tool.
My real "ConTeXt moment" came last summer, when I had to redo the layout
on one of our old Word files that had been edited by somebody else in
between. It was disgustingly difficult to the degree that I seriously
considered cutting and pasting the whole thing into Emacs and ConTeXting
it to my liking!
Mari
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