11 ms·

It’s just extremely complicated and the ecosystem has badly aged (yeah you need makefile and docker if you want to do it right, and nobody uses docker)

• nanna 6y ago
  > It’s just extremely complicated Depends on what you're trying to do. To publish an article or book - no it's not very complicated. There's a vast package ecosystem and knowing where to turn can be daunting, but there is great community documentation out there such as by Overleaf[1] and the community on stack exchange is lively and lovely. Building your own functionality can be complicated, however partly this comes down to LaTeX being a very different programming paradigm to the conventional C-like languages. > the ecosystem has badly aged Care to substantiate? > you need makefile and docker if you want to do it right, and nobody uses docker Simply untrue. If you have a setup that warrants more than a conventional setup there are native-LaTeX build tools like arara which are simple to use.[2] [1] https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Main_Page https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Main_Page [2] https://gitlab.com/jm4rc05/arara https://gitlab.com/jm4rc05/arara
  • baby 6y ago
    I forgot Overleaf, they are single handedly making latex user friendly
    • nanna 6y ago
      I'd say 'single handedly' is a bit of an overstatement, but Overleaf are definitely doing a great job.
• mhd 6y ago
  First time I heard docker as a prerequisite to TeX usage. Cross-platform comprehensive LaTeX distributions have been there since at least the mid-90s. And the ecosystem actually is quite good these days. You always had pretty good editor support in the "nerdy" ones, but these days there are also friendlier frontends like Lyx, Texpad, Texstudio or the collaborative web-based Overleaf. The backend isn't that bad, either. The days of specialized output and font formats are gone, using any system TTF/OTF and producing PDF is easy enough with pdfTeX, luaTeX adds lua-based scripting to that and ConTeXt does all that plus better access to layout primitives and typographical features. And I'm sure the Rust Rewrite Liberation Front is active in TeX, too. The worst thing in the TeX world, ironically, is documentation. There's a lot of stuff out there that didn't keep up with all the new features and possibilities.
  • yellowapple 6y ago
    > using any system TTF/OTF As if any typeface could possibly be superior to Computer Modern Serif.
    • mhd 6y ago
      Knuth's own Concrete Roman stares awkwardly…
  • baby 6y ago
    It’s not a prerequisite, the proof is that no one seems to use docker to build latex. That’s what I meant: it’s an ugly mess and you’ll spend hours trying to compile things like you’re dealing with autotools and a C codebase, and people don’t even use docker. I wouldn’t say the ecosystem is good. Every time you want to add a new extension you’ll be in a world of pain. I prefer customizing emacs at this point.
• anthk 6y ago
  > (yeah you need makefile and docker if you want to do it right, and nobody uses docker) what? Just make and the texlive setup. I you want something bullshit-free, install texlive on slackware, it brings the full setup.