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List:       klyx
Subject:    Fwd: Re: klyx info - for a novice
From:       George De Bruin <sndchsr () earthlink ! net>
Date:       2001-05-01 7:37:50
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----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
Subject: Re: klyx info - for a novice
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 02:34:46 -0500
From: George De Bruin <sndchsr@earthlink.net>
To: Andrew Sear <A.Sear@consultco.com>


On Sunday 29 April 2001 02:24, Andrew Sear wrote:
> I have just been looking into klyx and have a couple of questions I
> hope someone will answer.

These are pretty basic questions that I think I can answer for you...and we
have something in common...:)

> I have no strong preferences to lyx or klyx, I am just trying to find an
> alternative to MS Word and Windows NT/2000.  I also have not been happy
> with word processing for about 10 years, so I not paid a lot of
> attention to Star Office.

I'm with you on this.  In fact, the last word processor that I was actually
excited about was Describe under OS/2.  Too bad they (the Describe company)
folded.

While I looked seriously at StarOffice, and even used it for a few months, I
found that it wasn't really what I wanted.  I've also seriously looked at
KWord recently.  But, LyX was quickly very different, and I found that it
really fits my needs.

> 1.  I am using the version shipping with Suse 7.1, and I guess this is
> version 0.10.  It seems to me this version is getting a little old, is
> it still being actively developed?  Or should I look to lyx?

Look to LyX.  The KLyX development reached a point where it's depencies on
LyX required that some major changes be made to LyX before it could proceed.
Since that has happened, the LyX team has started working (and is making
progress on) making the interface independent of the main LyX program.  This
will allow front ends designed to run under KDE, Gnome, etc.

> 2.  How do you handle file exchange with people still using Word?  It
> seems like pdf might be the best format, however it gets expensive to
> edit pdf files I believe (on the Windows platforms anyway).

PDF files are one option.  Another is to use a program to convert from DVI to
RTF, which Word can handle.  If you wanted to take it a step further, you
could then use something like StarOffice to import the RTF and output a
native Word document.

Another possibility would be to export to HTML.

> 3.  Are there are large number of document classes available?  In
> particular Thesis documents and "User Guides" for software developers?

Yes!  Look at the CTAN archives.

> 4.  What is the situation with the file format, what is it?  Is it
> possible to save files as XML (for example) and then have a DTD (or
> schema) available to interact with tex, latex, etc...  This way the
> document could easliy be used for many purposes?

Currently SGML / XML are implemented in limited support, primarily for
LinuxDoc documents.  This is an item that is on the list of things to expand
in future versions of LyX (and I am extremely happy to see that...)

> Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.

Another comment: visit www.lyx.org and sign up for the LyX mailing lists.
All of the information that I have mentioned here I have groked from those
lists.

And, welcome to the world of LyX.  Really, this is the first application that
I have been excited about in a _very_ long time.

--
George J. De Bruin
Check Out 0l0rin's New Age compositions at http://mp3.com/0l0rin
0l0rin's latest recording "Collection" is available now!

-------------------------------------------------------

-- 
George J. De Bruin
Check Out 0l0rin's New Age compositions at http://mp3.com/0l0rin
0l0rin's latest recording "Collection" is available now!

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