Re: Ubuntu vs. Debian (was Re: Introduction)

[Douglas Allan Tutty <dtutty@porchlight.ca>]

Thanks all for your discussion on Lyx vs LaTex (and Word).

I've been traveling and now pouring through a month's worth of emails.
Just before I left, after reading all the documents that come with the
TexLive system on Debian, I took 30 minutes and translated a few Lout
letters into Latex.  It works.  In fact, some things are easier than in
Lout.  I started with lout because it looked like an easier learning
curve and certainly a shorter download, but it doesn't do html.

I prefer to use a regular editor, like I've been doing with Vim and
Lout, rater than a GUI and especially rather than a WYSIWYG.  The
advantage of just using any editor is that I can use any editor.  I can
take the file with me and use anyone's computer with any editor and work
on a document.  When I get home I can process it and see how it looks.

Since my printer is text-only, if I want a document to look beautiful I
get out my pen, ink, a nice piece of parchment, and start writing
Chancery.  With everyone else spitting stuff out on a laser printer, its
amazing the positive reception a hand scribed letter receives.  I can do
all the prep work on the computer.

I'll be starting a new structured document soon, using LaTex, and I'll
learn how to set things up for good html presenation (in addition to
good pdf, ps, and plain text).  

Thanks again,

Doug.