On Wednesday 28 January 2009 06:29:38 am Guenter Milde wrote: > On 2009-01-27, Nikos Alexandris wrote: > > With this phrase starts the description of LyX in Ubuntu's repositories. > > This seems to be taken from the package description in Debian: > > Document Processor > LyX is an almost WYSIWYG-frontend for LaTeX. It makes the power and > typesetting quality of LaTeX available for people who are used to word > processors. Since LyX supports LaTeX's concept of general mark-ups, it > is even easier and faster to create professional quality documents > with it than with usual word processors. It is also possible to use > LaTeX commands within LyX, so nothing of LaTeX's power is lost.
I believe the preceding is an excellent definition. LyX has WYSIWYG properties in that headings, titles, etc appear in approximately the same size in both the LyX environment and the printed page. As long as layout files are set up right, things that are centered on the printed page are also centered within the LyX environment. LyX is not completely WYSIWYG because there are numerous little differences, and of course the big one -- the LyX environment doesn't page break. There are some who say LyX is not WYSIWYG at all. My argument is that LaTeX in Vim is not WYSIWYG, HTML in Vim is not WYSIWYG, and old WordPerfect 5.1 is not WYSIWYG. In all three cases, you have only one font, and must run a conversion program to have any idea how it will format. In LyX, you have a pretty good idea how things will format just by looking in the LyX workspace. > > > I think it should read: LyX is a WYSIWYM document processor. > > I don't think so: the WYSIWYM concept needs explanation itself, so you > cannot use it to explain what LyX is without first introducing this term. I agree. I've used LyX for 8 years and still don't really understand what WYSIWYM means. I wrote on the subject 2 years ago: http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/lyx/lyx_latex_tex.htm#_LyX_is_WYSIWYG > > My proposal would be: > > LyX is a graphical frontend for LaTeX. ... This sounds OK, but personally I'd just leave it as "LyX is an almost WYSIWYG-frontend for LaTeX." To me, it's the most accurate description of the relationship between paper and work environment appearances. SteveT Steve Litt Recession Relief Package http://www.recession-relief.US
