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TeXmacs is better. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcqGRv7xhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcqGRv7xhc Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually h

TeXmacs is better. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcqGRv7xhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcqGRv7xhc Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually has WYSIWYG editing. LyX only provides a rough approximation of the output. Moreover, the real-time typesetter in TeXmacs rivals the output of TeX/LaTeX. In some ways, it is better.

kzoo 11y ago
TeXmacs and LyX take different approaches to document generation. You cannot say one is better than the other without considering how their respective differences will impact your needs from the program.
- amichail 11y ago
  There is no reason why anyone should use LyX over TeXmacs in high school or undergraduate classes. TeXmacs is also better for academia but most universities, conferences, and journals are behind the times... so graduate students and professors are still stuck with LaTeX.
  - kzoo 11y ago
    I'm happy TeXmacs works so well for you! For my needs, LyX and LaTeX work better and so I choose to use them. It's nice to see a diversity of software that can be of use for everyone :)
  - mastazi 11y ago
    > "[put anything here] is better" if the above sentence is not followed by: > "because [explain reason]" my BS detector state is usually set to 'Red Alert'.
    - amichail 11y ago
      Check out the video. Also, it's free so why not give it a try?
      - detaro 11y ago
        The video shows a GUI document editor. From what I've seen of LyX, it is also a GUI document editor, but I couldn't describe relevant differences.
        amichail 11y ago
        Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually has WYSIWYG editing. LyX only provides a rough approximation of the output. Moreover, the real-time typesetter in TeXmacs rivals the output quality of TeX/LaTeX. In some ways, it is better.
        detaro 11y ago
        Thanks, that's short and easy to understand, without knowing the two programs.
      - mastazi 11y ago
        Thanks I checked out the video and googled a bit, it seems it's a nice piece of software
bachmeier 11y ago
Is TeXmacs still being developed? I read that it is largely dead. The website and software haven't been updated in years.
- amichail 11y ago
  Yes, it is still being developed. The latest version is 1.99.4, which was released recently.
tauchunfall 11y ago
>Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually has WYSIWYG editing. LyX only provides a rough approximation of the output. LyX does not intent to be a WYSIWYG editor. It is a WYSIWYM editor. It is the same as some people prefer Microsoft Word and others prefer Markdown.
amk_ 11y ago
TeXmacs is great--you can precisely and effortlessly write equations (and tables) that would be a huge pain to generate in Lyx, Word, and especially LaTeX. Jupyter-style embedding of live Python/Octave/Matlab (and more?) consoles into the document is pretty awesome, too. That said, I never use it for a document I'm going to send to collaborators unless they are really onboard with it first. 1. Emacs keybindings/window layout. If you aren't used to thinking in buffers and don't know which is the meta key, this can be very confusing. 2. TeXmacs uses TeX, not LaTeX, in the backend, though there are export/import commands. Makes it necessary to do some wrangling to get documents to match prescribed formats.
- amichail 11y ago
  TeXmacs doesn't use TeX. Rather, it has its own real-time typesetting engine that produces output of quality comparable to TeX.
  - amk_ 11y ago
    Ah, turns out it only uses TeX fonts and implements its own typesetter.
chungy 11y ago
I really do wish I could agree, but sadly I cannot. Let's grant that the last time I tried to put TeXmacs into serious use was two years ago, but I don't see indicators much of it would have changed. TeXmacs fails at usability right off the bat, even being unfamiliar to those used to Emacs keyboard chords (it's sort of implied in the name to be for that use-case), and I found it a little better after changing it to a CUA mode (I think it was called "GNOME Look and Feel"?). Finding crap in the toolbars and menu was obtuse, or even what all the keyboard shortcuts were. And then there was the fact that it was super-easy to crash and lose all your work in an instant. I found a particularly nasty case where just changing the type of header (chapter, sub-chapter, etc) crashed TeXmacs and caused all further attempts to open the file to crash the program immediately... grr I would love if TeXmacs improves, or has improved, but I absolutely can't recommend it for serious work. Way too crash-happy, on both Debian and Windows systems. LyX is rock-solid stable, on the other hand (and has fewer "gotchas" due to its lack of WYSYWIG).
qznc 11y ago
What about custom commands? I usually have a dozen custom commands in LaTeX to e.g. typeset specific names.
- amichail 11y ago
  TeXmacs has visual macros.
_yy 11y ago
Nice. It has an WYSIWYG editor for vector graphics. It's confusing as hell, though.

kzoo 11y ago

TeXmacs and LyX take different approaches to document generation. You cannot say one is better than the other without considering how their respective differences will impact your needs from the program.

amichail 11y ago
There is no reason why anyone should use LyX over TeXmacs in high school or undergraduate classes. TeXmacs is also better for academia but most universities, conferences, and journals are behind the times... so graduate students and professors are still stuck with LaTeX.
- kzoo 11y ago
  I'm happy TeXmacs works so well for you! For my needs, LyX and LaTeX work better and so I choose to use them. It's nice to see a diversity of software that can be of use for everyone :)
- mastazi 11y ago
  > "[put anything here] is better" if the above sentence is not followed by: > "because [explain reason]" my BS detector state is usually set to 'Red Alert'.
  - amichail 11y ago
    Check out the video. Also, it's free so why not give it a try?
    - detaro 11y ago
      The video shows a GUI document editor. From what I've seen of LyX, it is also a GUI document editor, but I couldn't describe relevant differences.
      - amichail 11y ago
        Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually has WYSIWYG editing. LyX only provides a rough approximation of the output. Moreover, the real-time typesetter in TeXmacs rivals the output quality of TeX/LaTeX. In some ways, it is better.
        detaro 11y ago
        Thanks, that's short and easy to understand, without knowing the two programs.
    - mastazi 11y ago
      Thanks I checked out the video and googled a bit, it seems it's a nice piece of software

bachmeier 11y ago

Is TeXmacs still being developed? I read that it is largely dead. The website and software haven't been updated in years.

amichail 11y ago
Yes, it is still being developed. The latest version is 1.99.4, which was released recently.

tauchunfall 11y ago

>Unlike LyX, TeXmacs actually has WYSIWYG editing. LyX only provides a rough approximation of the output. LyX does not intent to be a WYSIWYG editor. It is a WYSIWYM editor. It is the same as some people prefer Microsoft Word and others prefer Markdown.

amk_ 11y ago

TeXmacs is great--you can precisely and effortlessly write equations (and tables) that would be a huge pain to generate in Lyx, Word, and especially LaTeX. Jupyter-style embedding of live Python/Octave/Matlab (and more?) consoles into the document is pretty awesome, too. That said, I never use it for a document I'm going to send to collaborators unless they are really onboard with it first. 1. Emacs keybindings/window layout. If you aren't used to thinking in buffers and don't know which is the meta key, this can be very confusing. 2. TeXmacs uses TeX, not LaTeX, in the backend, though there are export/import commands. Makes it necessary to do some wrangling to get documents to match prescribed formats.

amichail 11y ago
TeXmacs doesn't use TeX. Rather, it has its own real-time typesetting engine that produces output of quality comparable to TeX.
- amk_ 11y ago
  Ah, turns out it only uses TeX fonts and implements its own typesetter.

chungy 11y ago

I really do wish I could agree, but sadly I cannot. Let's grant that the last time I tried to put TeXmacs into serious use was two years ago, but I don't see indicators much of it would have changed. TeXmacs fails at usability right off the bat, even being unfamiliar to those used to Emacs keyboard chords (it's sort of implied in the name to be for that use-case), and I found it a little better after changing it to a CUA mode (I think it was called "GNOME Look and Feel"?). Finding crap in the toolbars and menu was obtuse, or even what all the keyboard shortcuts were. And then there was the fact that it was super-easy to crash and lose all your work in an instant. I found a particularly nasty case where just changing the type of header (chapter, sub-chapter, etc) crashed TeXmacs and caused all further attempts to open the file to crash the program immediately... grr I would love if TeXmacs improves, or has improved, but I absolutely can't recommend it for serious work. Way too crash-happy, on both Debian and Windows systems. LyX is rock-solid stable, on the other hand (and has fewer "gotchas" due to its lack of WYSYWIG).

qznc 11y ago

What about custom commands? I usually have a dozen custom commands in LaTeX to e.g. typeset specific names.

amichail 11y ago
TeXmacs has visual macros.

_yy 11y ago

Nice. It has an WYSIWYG editor for vector graphics. It's confusing as hell, though.