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List:       lyx-users
Subject:    Re: Strategies for Writing Co-operation with Non-LyX Users?
From:       Piero Faustini <pierofaustini () hotmail ! com>
Date:       2009-02-05 22:43:32
Message-ID: loom.20090205T154919-272 () post ! gmane ! org
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Vincent van Ravesteijn <V.F.vanRavesteijn@...> writes:

> As you understand by now, I only see improvements to LyX without the 
> need for having a different application. And improvements are of course 
> always worth implementing.

When I'm talking about LyXght I don't think it should a *different* app, of 
course. I think much more as an alternative light installation, with shadowed 
buttons or menu items, forbidden (for user's sake) actions, perhaps some 
MSWord-like .ui and/or .cua default settings. Once released, newer subsequent 
LyX versions should just take in condideration specific settings/features for 
corresponding LyXlite, without any further work.
One of the greatest effort should be taken in not to frighten a Word user. I 
mean: once, in this list, a guy (well, it looked much more like a serious 
academic) said LyX was very difficoult to use because of the LaTeX-like a-
symmetric quotation marks. I mean, he stopped at the 1st purely exterior weird 
thing. Now - we know it was a silly thing, but I'm glad they "fixed" it in 
latest LyX versions, for my eyes, too.
I read a lot of messages in this thread concerning HTML and LaTeX and so on 
converters/strategies. HTML is a "widely known" format? Where? I think we're 
talking about completely different areas. As I remarked - with some tragic 
irony - in my fields people use Word because it was the 1st blue (an thus 
relaxing) icon to appeare in their PC desktop when they bought it. They are 
academics, scholars, PhD students but I guess more than a half of them don't 
even know what a Word style is. Maybe they heard - in theory - what a html 
markup is but almost 90% of them NEVER heard about LaTeX.
This is the situation in a history department in a second-size university of 
Italy.
Can we generalize a little bit and tell that about 20% of world scholars (say, 
almost all humanistic departments, most of law departments, some of the 
economics ones...) are in a situation similar to this? Don't you think it's a 
"virgin market", as well as a strategic one, LyX should try to conquer? And we 
didn't mention non-academic areas.

I didn't try LyX without MikTeX or further programs but I guess almost 
everything could work just fine. Let's focus on non-frightening attitude and 
appearance. This is pretty much a "marketing" problem! But to approach it we 
should try, just for a moment, to leave aside the technical/scientific point of 
view and related habits which are, IMHO, slowing down LyX acceptance in some 
strategical  
areas.



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