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Org-mode is amazing and has a lovely community. But I'm really not sure it's a good idea to use it for authoring LaTeX documents because that makes it impossibl

Org-mode is amazing and has a lovely community. But I'm really not sure it's a good idea to use it for authoring LaTeX documents because that makes it impossible to work with others: however amazing org is, the fact is that it's Emacs and therefore only a small number of people use it. But if these citations are for personal blog posts etc I guess that's great, although personally I think I'd want to use the same tools for all my writing.

aaronchall 5y ago
I found Orgmode was amazing for writing LaTeX documents - but I wasn't working with other people. For a few classes I took recently, I used R-markdown. For one class's group paper we all collaborated with the same source file, I set up continuous integration on my server and hosted the result paper - which the other group members seemed to ignore, just looking at their local results, and at one point we had the numbers for numbered headings showing up twice in the document because one member didn't realize we were automatically adding them in. For the other class, we had some group exams each over a weekend, and I found I had to organize everyone else's work, which was a lot of extra work. Some of them didn't understand they needed to give me a plain-text file with their contribution, and instead handed me MS Word with math, which caused some frustration for me. I emailed out the compiled document over and over, and we did essentially one-on-ones where they explained their work and I verified it, cleaned it up, and (re?)wrote most of it anyways. If orgmode was my choice, I'd probably wind up doing the same, but you have to really behave like a type-A personality to lead the group, and stay type-A to get it done. The takeaway I had is that if you take the lead and are willing to do most of the work you can use the tech you want to use and still be rather successful with a group. But if you have to rely on them to do the work, they need to use technology they understand how to use.
- disabled 5y ago
  > I found Orgmode was amazing for writing LaTeX documents - but I wasn't working with other people. This is probably the best way to type notes (and diagrams!) in class. It also works awesome for pretty much everything else in life too, when it comes to taking notes, especially for STEM work. I hope this helps! :-) * How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-1/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-1/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/latex-snippets https://github.com/gillescastel/latex-snippets * How I draw figures for my mathematical lecture notes using Inkscape: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-2/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-2/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/inkscape-figures https://github.com/gillescastel/inkscape-figures * How I manage my LaTeX lecture notes: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-3/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-3/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/university-setup https://github.com/gillescastel/university-setup
tmalsburg2 5y ago
I love org mode and use it for almost everything (note taking, agenda, to-do list, contacts, teaching materials, protocols, documentation, ...). The boost in productivity that it gives me is amazing and I do not expect to switch to another system in this life. However, I agree that org is not a great tool for writing serious documents intended for publication. First, the issue about collaboration that you mentioned. Just about 10% of my collaborators use Emacs, and even those people aren't serious users of org mode. But even when I'm writing alone, I really do need the power of LaTeX in the vast majority of cases. Org allows embedding LaTeX (behind the scenes LaTeX is a stepping stone on the path to PDF), but if I end up littering my org document with LaTeX macros anyway, I can just as well use straight LaTeX and org doesn't really buy me anything. It just adds another level of complexity to common authoring workflows. I also often use literate programming techniques in my articles, and Knitr (LaTeX' solution) is considerably more powerful and reliable than org's Babel system.
solaceb 5y ago
I'm currently researching ways to integrate org-mode based citation structures with more commonly used tools such as Zotero, and apparently it's possible to make them talk nicely? The linked article states: > Zotero is a good option, and if you’re using it it’s quite easy to use it with Org Cite. Out of the box, you can tell it to export your library, or parts of it, to a .bib file and automatically keep it in sync. I’d recommend installing the Better BibTeX extension though. A non-technical friend and myself are looking into creating a blog for discussing issues related to health care, hence my interest on this front. Hopefully it's straightforward (famous last words)!

aaronchall 5y ago

I found Orgmode was amazing for writing LaTeX documents - but I wasn't working with other people. For a few classes I took recently, I used R-markdown. For one class's group paper we all collaborated with the same source file, I set up continuous integration on my server and hosted the result paper - which the other group members seemed to ignore, just looking at their local results, and at one point we had the numbers for numbered headings showing up twice in the document because one member didn't realize we were automatically adding them in. For the other class, we had some group exams each over a weekend, and I found I had to organize everyone else's work, which was a lot of extra work. Some of them didn't understand they needed to give me a plain-text file with their contribution, and instead handed me MS Word with math, which caused some frustration for me. I emailed out the compiled document over and over, and we did essentially one-on-ones where they explained their work and I verified it, cleaned it up, and (re?)wrote most of it anyways. If orgmode was my choice, I'd probably wind up doing the same, but you have to really behave like a type-A personality to lead the group, and stay type-A to get it done. The takeaway I had is that if you take the lead and are willing to do most of the work you can use the tech you want to use and still be rather successful with a group. But if you have to rely on them to do the work, they need to use technology they understand how to use.

disabled 5y ago
> I found Orgmode was amazing for writing LaTeX documents - but I wasn't working with other people. This is probably the best way to type notes (and diagrams!) in class. It also works awesome for pretty much everything else in life too, when it comes to taking notes, especially for STEM work. I hope this helps! :-) * How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-1/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-1/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/latex-snippets https://github.com/gillescastel/latex-snippets * How I draw figures for my mathematical lecture notes using Inkscape: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-2/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-2/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/inkscape-figures https://github.com/gillescastel/inkscape-figures * How I manage my LaTeX lecture notes: https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-3/ https://castel.dev/post/lecture-notes-3/ * GitHub repo for above: https://github.com/gillescastel/university-setup https://github.com/gillescastel/university-setup

tmalsburg2 5y ago

I love org mode and use it for almost everything (note taking, agenda, to-do list, contacts, teaching materials, protocols, documentation, ...). The boost in productivity that it gives me is amazing and I do not expect to switch to another system in this life. However, I agree that org is not a great tool for writing serious documents intended for publication. First, the issue about collaboration that you mentioned. Just about 10% of my collaborators use Emacs, and even those people aren't serious users of org mode. But even when I'm writing alone, I really do need the power of LaTeX in the vast majority of cases. Org allows embedding LaTeX (behind the scenes LaTeX is a stepping stone on the path to PDF), but if I end up littering my org document with LaTeX macros anyway, I can just as well use straight LaTeX and org doesn't really buy me anything. It just adds another level of complexity to common authoring workflows. I also often use literate programming techniques in my articles, and Knitr (LaTeX' solution) is considerably more powerful and reliable than org's Babel system.

solaceb 5y ago

I'm currently researching ways to integrate org-mode based citation structures with more commonly used tools such as Zotero, and apparently it's possible to make them talk nicely? The linked article states: > Zotero is a good option, and if you’re using it it’s quite easy to use it with Org Cite. Out of the box, you can tell it to export your library, or parts of it, to a .bib file and automatically keep it in sync. I’d recommend installing the Better BibTeX extension though. A non-technical friend and myself are looking into creating a blog for discussing issues related to health care, hence my interest on this front. Hopefully it's straightforward (famous last words)!