Closing Music:Sevish - Consciousness
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Abstract:
This document is the script for a ``Talk Geek To Me'' podcast episode, and covers a software review of Lyx. What Lyx is, and what makes it different from other ways of doing documents.
Lyx is a ``document preparation system.'' It is not a word processor, although it gives you all the features you expect from a word processor without the problems of a word processor.
Most word processors are based on emulating typewriters. A fine approach for people of my generation, who started on typewriters, but a lousy approach for people who were born after the typewriter disappeared. Why are people learning to make documents as if they were using a typewriter when the typewriter hasn't been used in about two decades? I speculate, ``force of habit,'' but the whole idea of the computer is that the computer does the grunt work for you and you do the stuff people are good at, which is creating.
The reason the typewriter paradigm is flawed is because when you work as if you were using a typewriter, you are forced to concern yourself with the appearance of the material on the piece of paper. How things are spaced, the size of the letters, tab stops, all of that stuff distracts you from writing the document.
For any example, if you start with a typewriter mode, you start by making a choice of fonts, tab points, font sizes, etc. With Lyx, you use the modern approach, you write, and you tag things with what they are. Then choose what it is and Lyx does the grunt work for you.
So lets say you were going to write a report, you would start by writing an introduction, and then you would choose ``Section'' to tell Lyx you were starting a new section, then you would type ``introduction'' and begin typing paragraphs.
In other words, Lyx is not a ``What You See is What You Get'' system, Lyx is a ``What You See Is What You Mean'' system. Now you may say that modern word processors can be moved to this style of work, but the difference is that word processors are based on that old way of doing things, and ``What You See Is What You Mean'' is a recent addition to them; where as Lyx is based on a typesetting system called ``Latex,'' which has been around for twenty years and is proven to work.
Ok, we all know that in the world of Unix and Linux, that you have a bunch of specialized programs, (note that this does not mean that there is no Latex for MS Windows, there is,) Same thing here, specialized programs.
So, Tex is a typesetting program, actually one that originally was too much for the early PC's of the '80's, but works fine on them now. Latex is an extension to Tex, that breaks Tex out of being a thing for typesetters, and allows things like macro creation and definitions of what different kinds of documents are worked on an uniform matter.
So Lyx is a front end for Latex, that acts to give you a good user interface, and Latex gives direction to Tex, which is a typesetting engine.
Latex then produces PDF files (``Portable Document File,'') and it's related device-independent form, the DVI file. These can be converted to Postscript formats for printing.
Of course the fun doesn't end there, since Lyx already is programmed to call other programs, it can call a variety of programs to create a variety of formats. By installing programs with it, you extend the functionality, you can use programs to import and export HTML (web pages,) create Linux Documents (stuff like man pages, etc.,) Use RCS, which is ``Revision Control System,'' Docbook formats as well as the WV suite for converting to Microsoft formats. If you add one of these programs after installation, you select ``reconfigure'' from the tools menu, and Lyx automagically detects the software and sets itself up to use it. Of course, this is all in addition to being able to add classes of documents to it. Some moderated journals have their own class for electronic submission as well as some universities having their own class for thesis submissions.
Using Lyx is a breeze. It has drop down menus like any modern program, and you start typing, only you tell it what things are as you go along.
So, I typically use the ``article'' document class (there are also ``Book,'' ``Report,'' and ``Letter,'' and you can import more if you need more.)
So, I would start like anything else, I would go to the file menu and choose ``new.'' Then I would choose ``Save As'' with the blank document, but that's me, I like to click the ``save'' icon later and know it is going where I like it to.
Then I begin typing. If I type a title, I use a pull-down menu and choose ``title,'' if something is a section start, I use the pull down menu and mark something as ``section.'' Lyx does the rest, numbering the sections, using uniform fonts for headers, consistent styles for everything else. When I want, I click a PDF icon, and it launches kpdf and shows me what it would look like.
When I am ready to wrap up, I go through a typical ``click the spell checking'' icon, and go over the spelling.
It is, of course, multi-tabbed. And there are other functions I barely use, but I know they will work when needed.
Available in all major repositories, as well as having installers for Windows, Mac, OS/2, as well as being GPL'd and available in source also.
Operates in 26 languages, the Windows page has specific setup instructions for 10 languages. Full support for language that operate right-to-left. Web page URL will be in the notes as well as one for a wikipedia article.