[Novalug] Looking for linux equivalent of Microsoft Publisher

[Alan McConnell]

On Sat, Dec 02, 2006 at 09:35:47PM -0500, Art Chimes wrote:
>
> I have used neither Scribus nor TeX, both of which are said to be powerful 
> programs with legions of fans.
	In re TeX: rue fact.  And I have been one of those fans since 
	1989, and use TeX almost any time that I have occasion to 
	print _anything_.

> From what I understand, though, they may 
> have a fairly steep learning curve
	<G>  Don't know what "steep learning curve" means.  As is the case
	with any powerful language/interpreter/compiler/ there is a _lot_
	to learn.  But the beginning steps are certainly not difficult;
	see below.

General Remark: if one is into publishing something which will wind up
regularly issued -- either on paper or as a .pdf file -- you don't want a
WYSIWYG.  You don't want your underlying format to change with your mood<g>.
You want a template.  And TeX gives you that; so I suppose do other
publishing programs.

Remarks about TeX:
1.  TeX has been around for aeons(in computer time<g>).  It is robust, it
is incredibly powerful, and is the underlying engine for lots of other
programs built on top of it; think LaTeX, think LilyPond.

2.  It is free, and runs on all systems that I know about, including
all Unices; I know it runs on Macs, and I think it runs on Windoze too.

3.  As I said above, it is easy to get started.  I gave a dclug talk about
it many years ago, and on that occasion I put a couple of instructions and
starter templates on my web site, patriot.net/users/alan; click on
Material on TeX.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have trouble with the first steps
I indicate on my web site.

Best wishes,

Alan

-- 
Alan McConnell :  http://patriot.net/users/alan
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