[XeTeX] XeTeX in lshort

Keith J. Schultz keithjschultz at web.de
Thu Sep 30 23:26:26 CEST 2010


Sorry if you got the impression that I had something against TeX or bias
towards WYSIWYG! 

My point was basically, Any document has structure and formatting.
TeX does not enforce structure. In TeX you explicitly  state the structure/format.

TeX use to be the most powerful typesetting system around and was use by
many publishing houses. Well, we have come a long way and there are better 
and easier to use systems. Publishing works differently, nowadays.

YET, TeX is the best by for your money and allows for us to save money, by
allowing us to create PDFs that can be used for for publishing purposes.
Or create great documents with only the expense of a very hard learning curve.

I agree, Xe(La)TeX has a public relations problem, but xelshort will not change
change this in the sense that people will hear about it.

xelshort will though help in getting people to accept Xe(La)TeX as alot of
typing and commands are no longer need. This is especially, true for languages 
other than english.

regards
	Keith. 

 
Am 30.09.2010 um 19:11 schrieb Gerrit Glabbart:

> 
> Am 30.09.2010 um 16:01 schrieb Keith J. Schultz:
> 
> <snip>
>> If you take the 
>> time to look at a Word-file(doc or docx) verbatim, you will see the structure.
>> Though some of it will not be human discernible.
> 
> I'd call that a drawback, wouldn't you?
> 
> 
>> With Tex et al. the structure/formatting commands are in document verbatim.
>> When using TeX et al. you are more aware of what you are doing, but there is 
>> not more structure.
> 
> More awareness is better, no?
> 
> 
>> The only thing Tex et al. gives you is more flexibility and makes it easier to change 
>> style and page metrics as compared to Word.
> 
> more flexibility; easier to change; again, better.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I didn't think I'd have to defend the merits of TeX *on a mailing list devoted to (a form of) TeX*, but here we are.
> 
> I'm not saying LaTeX is for everyone, or that working in TeX is an inherently superior experience for everyone (though it is for me) -- but I am saying that (a lot) more people than mathematicians and linguists may find TeX useful, if they only ever heard about it. 
> 
> And that's were lshort comes in: it's (supposed to be) an overview over the possibilities and capabilities of LaTeX, with just enough information to get started, but not enough to be intimidating. It worked for me, it may work for others. Right now, any introduction to TeX that does not mention XeTeX must be considered incomplete, which is why I find this attempt to provide that mention so commendable -- so, thanks in advance!
> 
> -- Gerrit.
> 
> 
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