I could probably describe the user interface here but that would probably add another 1k words to this post. So you can totally just launch it, type in bunch of garbage, hit a button and get a pretty, nicely formatted PDF. Not to mention that it also gives you access to the powerful LaTex typesetting engine and math formula functions.
The point is that it works better than a regular word processor. The website claims it is a WYSIWYM editor (which stands for What You See Is What Your Mom Said or something like that). In essence they try to convey markup by using various visual indicators. Lyx combines the visual approach of WYSIWYG with a a more structured and pragmatic organization of content. So I decided I might as well try it and see what the fuss is all about. Every time I post something even remotely Tex related, someone invariably brings it up. Of course some people just don’t like to learn, and this is why we have Lyx – an editor that gives you a lot of the nice features of LaTex without any of the hassle.
ITALICS IN LYX HOW TO
Using latex is very much like programming – you learn the syntax first, then you find out about useful packages that do things for you, then you learn how to redefine and overload basic functions, later you find out about style files and eventually you can create your own. It’s an incredibly powerful system, but also a very complex one. It has a powerful engine for generating complex mathematical formulas that far surpass what is offered by MS office out of the box, it is much better at managing figures, tables of contents and bibliographies, and unlike most word processing tools maintains separation between display and content.
ITALICS IN LYX PROFESSIONAL
They stand out, in a good way – they are crisp, and professional looking. The other half is that LaTex formatted documents just look so damn good. This is why I use LaTex for most of the formal document writing needs. Just look in the links above for various examples of this. Not only that, but it teaches users bad habits. It works for simple documents, but as soon as you try to use it for something substantial (for example 100 page research paper) it falls apart. WYSIWYG editors try to do the impossible – to create marked up text while hiding the markup from the user.
WYSIWYG will always be quirky, annoying and frustrating by design. It is a deeply flawed paradigm and a UI dead end as far as I’m concerned. In fact, let me give you couple of links to start you off. If you are interested, you can take a look in the archives to see why I feel the way I do. I have my reasons, but I will not repeat them here for the sake of brevity.
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