Timeline for Alternatives to Word/LaTeX
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 23, 2015 at 22:41 | comment | added | posdef | @cpast true, I guess my expectations are quite a bit beyond getting a chunk of text compiling. I usually set my baseline to getting as visually pleasing content as I can produce with InDesign, which is surprisingly difficult with LaTeX. I do miss that there is no WYSIWYG editor for LaTeX (ref: tex.stackexchange.com/q/144589/4271) | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 19:40 | comment | added | sevensevens | Most university libraries have a LaTeX expert if you get stuck. Don't roll your own thesis editor - use something where you can get help if you need it. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 19:38 | comment | added | Phil | @posdef It's very flattering to think so, but I don't think I'm a genius! For the same reason, I doubt you're 'slow'. I wouldn't suggest LaTeX is 'easy', but I was able to use a book template and get it building within one day, with a bibliography. I think that is achievable within a day or two, especially for someone familiar with markup (html). I then use en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX as a comprehensive resources for things I don't know. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 19:31 | comment | added | cpast | @posdef He didn't say he learned enough to write a thesis in a day; he said he learned enough to get started in a day. As you do new things, you have to learn more, but it doesn't necessarily take that long for you to basically be able to write your text, while having a decent sense of where to look if you want to do something you don't know how to do. LaTeX really isn't very hard to learn; what's hard is mastering it. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 17:33 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | @posdef tex.sx is a very useful resource and a friendly community. For simple questions, people don't mind if you ask in chat. For more difficult questions, there is of course the main site. I don't think there are many people who understand TeX, but if you are not doing anything exotic, it is not hard to use. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 17:00 | comment | added | posdef | @Phil Congrats, but I'm seriously skeptical about learning "enough" LaTeX in 1 day to write a thesis. I have been using TeX variants since the first year in uni (approx 11 years now) and I still often get stuck with stuff that I personally think that it should be straightforward to do. I don't know if you are some soft of a genius (or perhaps I am particularly slow) but I would strongly challenge the notion of LaTeX being "easy" to learn. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 16:58 | comment | added | Jack Aidley | You dismiss HTML/CSS too easily; with the right setup it's perfectly capable of generating sensible printed documents. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 16:30 | comment | added | Moriarty | I propose a second conclusion: stick to Word. Although the OP obviously can write code, it's not a science thesis. LaTeX is indeed great, but Word is still okay. Advisors who may not be very computer literate might appreciate its editing features. It's just a bad idea, when you're trying to chop down a tree, to toss out two of your sharpest axes and start slapping the trunk with a herring. Because that's probably what writing a thesis in markup language would feel like. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 16:20 | comment | added | Jonathan E. Landrum | Further, there are nice websites nowadays with LaTeX editors built in, and they even have lovely themes you can apply and start using immediately. I have used both ShareLaTeX and WriteLaTeX (now called Overleaf) with great success for about three years now. The added benefit is cloud-based backups of your document (still save everything locally, though). | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 16:09 | comment | added | yo' | @Penguin_Knight I would recommend What are good learning resources for a LaTeX beginner? on TeX.SE. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 15:43 | comment | added | Penguin_Knight | +1 I second LaTeX. At least try it out, if you have programming background it should not be too daunting to learn. The Not so short introduction to LaTeX is a good start. LaTeX and Friends by van Dongen provides a relatively recent introduction with very visually pleasing layout. | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 15:24 | comment | added | Phil | I use LaTeX for a social science thesis (so no equations, etc). It took me about a day out of my whole three year PhD to learn enough LaTeX to get started, and it was well worth it. I use referencing, glossaries/acronyms, chapter and section labels and references, and tables and love that they're all formatted for me! | |
| Mar 23, 2015 at 14:38 | history | edited | Alexandros | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 1 character in body
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| Mar 23, 2015 at 13:05 | history | answered | Alexandros | CC BY-SA 3.0 |