[OS X TeX] TeX is not for the faint of heart

[Alain Schremmer]

(1) I apologize. I was not really aware that I was shouting. I just 
wanted to emphasize and didn't trust italics.
(2) I have just returned from http://www.rna.nl/tex.html. There is 
absolutely nothing in red. (This by the way has happened to me with 
other sites.) But I also ran a find panic and find confused and did not 
find either.
(3) The point is that a whole lot of people do /not/ want MS Word. And, 
at least on the Mac, OpenOffice is not yet available.
(4) I did not /want/ to skim. But there I was in the wilderness not even 
being able to decide whether what was in front of me was readable by me. 
Etc.
(5) Please, take my word for it. Most people are likely to be already in 
a state of panic before they even get to your site. Also, you don't 
really have to say "don't panic" You don't have to say "if you are an 
install-idiot read this." Although I, fr one, would have been vastly 
relieved finally to come to something I would have a chance to 
understand. There are lot of books "for the dummmies" and I don't think 
anybody feels insulted and the bools seem to sell very well.
(6) "A console with errors and messages during batch formatting?" /That/ 
must be an error. I hope I didn't write this as I don't know what batch 
formatting. I just remember that IBM used to batch something or the other.
(7) I understand that there are "fundamental differences [between TeX 
and MSWord]" and I thought that I had made it clear that I could live 
very well with TeXshop + i-Installer and that I just was hoping that 
there would be more panels in TeXshop.
(8) I am sorry that I seem to have annoyed you and I apologize.

Regards
--schremmer


Gerben Wierda wrote:

> On May 6, 2004, at 01:30, Alain Schremmer wrote:
>
>> What is needed UP FRONT is just enough to let people get going.
>>
>> NO MORE than what MS Word requires.
>
>
> 1. Let's not SHOUT.
> 2. I can't tell people not to panic when they get confused *before* 
> they get confused. It would be silly to start a page with 'confused? 
> please read...'.
> 3. Read that page via that link in the confused?-paragraph. A normal 
> TeX will for a long while be ugly for most usrs. A console with errors 
> and messages during batch formatting? Come on, that is never 
> acceptable to someone who wants the integration of MS Word. Read that 
> page. Read the bit about a motor home versus a car + a home. 
> Understand that there are fundamental differences. Maybe LyX is better 
> for you.
>
> Some advice:
> - If you want MS Word, use MS Word.
> - If you want to skim instead of read, don't blame the author that you 
> have missed something. Especially if you skim over a paragraph that is 
> in signal-red.
>
> G
>
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