Deep down in section 7 is the author's own TLDR: I think you’ll probably agree that the LaTeX version looks better than the word processor export version. Whet

Deep down in section 7 is the author's own TLDR: I think you’ll probably agree that the LaTeX version looks better than the word processor export version. Whether it looks sufficiently better to justify the additional effort is a judgement call that you’ll have to make for yourself. LaTeX is indeed a typesetting tool, in the sense that the user writes content, LaTeX transforms it into typeset content. I'm not sure why the author goes through the same usual criticisms of LaTeX: 1) it's not for everyone; 2) it's good only for researchers; 3) it has a steep learning curve; etc. These have been known and discussed about for years. The coder analogy (i.e. the type/compile loop) is close to my heart: I use Emacs both for coding+debugging and for writing content with LaTeX. A strong linking point between the two is TikZ-PGF. I'll consider alternatives to LaTeX when somebody comes up with something as powerful as TikZ-PGF.