5 ms·

I know it's an HN cliche to talk about the website instead of the content, but I really like the LaTeX look and I want to know how it was done.

m4lvin 5y ago
I first assumed it was a PDF and when I got to the video thought "Wait, browsers do video-in-pdf now?"
- XCSme 5y ago
  Same, I thought it was a PDF. This is actually an interesting approach, make the website look like a text document but enrich it with web functionalities (videos, interactions). It looks very clean/minimal and distraction-free, excellent to read/learn content like this.
- Someone 5y ago
  If they support a somewhat recent version of PDF, they’ll have to; PDF itself can contain video. https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/rich-media.html https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/rich-media.html: “Adding video, sound, and interactive content transforms PDFs into multidimensional communication tools that increase interest and engagement in your documents. All multimedia that are H.264 compliant can be played back in Adobe Reader 9 and later. (H.264, also known as MPEG-4 part 10, is a video compression standard that provides high-quality video without substantially increasing file size.) Video files of varying formats and filename extensions can be H.264 compliant. Media files in other formats can be played back in earlier versions of Adobe Reader. However, users must install the appropriate application (such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player) to play the multimedia. Another way to add multimedia is by entering a URL that refers to a video file or streaming media. Three types of URLs can be used: RTMP, HTTP, and HTTPS. On HTTP and HTTPS servers, H.264-compliant MOV and MP4 files are supported.“
imhoguy 5y ago
It is very compact CSS and embedded web fonts e.g. "LM Roman", just check the source of page html>head>style tag. Pure minimalism art - I love it too.
pahae 5y ago
I've been using something similar: https://github.com/vincentdoerig/latex-css https://github.com/vincentdoerig/latex-css Seems like it could easily be adapted to match the style.
Archelaos 5y ago
The author's Web-site includes a repository of everything, including documentation, at https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/ https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/ -- Start with the README at https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/README https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/README
throw0101a 5y ago
> […] but I really like the LaTeX look and I want to know how it was done. Except that it's fully justified and the spacing between words is horrendous. Seems that no one can get Knuth & Plass right (at least online); maybe because there's no hyphenation / word breaking. Probably best to just stick with left justified / ragged right.
- OscarCunningham 5y ago
  There is word breaking though. At my screen width, 'overhauled' is broken in the second paragraph.
derbOac 5y ago
Lol. I was going to comment when there were only two or so others that I really dislike the font used on the website. I loathe the old school Latex look. I appreciate Latex as a markup language, but the computer modern fonts always drove me nuts. To each their own though. It's interesting to me that someone else had the opposite reaction.
- OscarCunningham 5y ago
  I'm a mathematician, so it might be that it's calmingly familiar rather than any typographical excellence.
  - derbOac 5y ago
    I do a fair amount of statistics research. I'm not sure I've quite found my holy grail of math typeface (although I can think of a couple that come close in different ways), but computer modern / etc was never it for me. I can totally see how it would feel sort of comforting though. I hadn't thought about it before but it does remind me of old Springer texts, and I could see how that would feel "homey" or something. This conversation has me kind of "resetting" my perspective on it a bit.
- vngzs 5y ago
  If you haven't, check it out from a high DPI printer. The font is much more tolerable there. I used uBlock customization to block the font from loading to read the article.
  - pooper 5y ago
    > I used uBlock customization to block the font from loading to read the article. For those on Mozilla Firefox[note], please also give the reader view a try. Reader view is also available on other browsers such as Safari on the iPhone. [note] - (if you are not on it, please consider downloading and using it but that is a different conversation)
- majewsky 5y ago
  Computer Modern fonts are very much designed for printing. On a screen, the really narrow parts of each letter are usually close to unbearable.
salmo 5y ago
Tangentially, I do use a LaTeX inspired Hugo theme[1]. It’s not perfect, but I like it. I worked on math textbooks and LaTeX as a side gig in college and it’s very comfortable for me. Probably off putting to a non nerd audience, but it’s a self indulgent site, so whatever. A LaTeX static site generator could be cool itself. I markdown so much these days it might be refreshing to revisit my past. One day I’ll Google that, I guess. :) [1] https://github.com/queensferryme/hugo-theme-texify https://github.com/queensferryme/hugo-theme-texify

m4lvin 5y ago

I first assumed it was a PDF and when I got to the video thought "Wait, browsers do video-in-pdf now?"

XCSme 5y ago
Same, I thought it was a PDF. This is actually an interesting approach, make the website look like a text document but enrich it with web functionalities (videos, interactions). It looks very clean/minimal and distraction-free, excellent to read/learn content like this.
Someone 5y ago
If they support a somewhat recent version of PDF, they’ll have to; PDF itself can contain video. https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/rich-media.html https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/rich-media.html: “Adding video, sound, and interactive content transforms PDFs into multidimensional communication tools that increase interest and engagement in your documents. All multimedia that are H.264 compliant can be played back in Adobe Reader 9 and later. (H.264, also known as MPEG-4 part 10, is a video compression standard that provides high-quality video without substantially increasing file size.) Video files of varying formats and filename extensions can be H.264 compliant. Media files in other formats can be played back in earlier versions of Adobe Reader. However, users must install the appropriate application (such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player) to play the multimedia. Another way to add multimedia is by entering a URL that refers to a video file or streaming media. Three types of URLs can be used: RTMP, HTTP, and HTTPS. On HTTP and HTTPS servers, H.264-compliant MOV and MP4 files are supported.“

imhoguy 5y ago

It is very compact CSS and embedded web fonts e.g. "LM Roman", just check the source of page html>head>style tag. Pure minimalism art - I love it too.

pahae 5y ago

I've been using something similar: https://github.com/vincentdoerig/latex-css https://github.com/vincentdoerig/latex-css Seems like it could easily be adapted to match the style.

Archelaos 5y ago

The author's Web-site includes a repository of everything, including documentation, at https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/ https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/ -- Start with the README at https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/README https://git.zx2c4.com/linux-rng/tree/README

throw0101a 5y ago

> […] but I really like the LaTeX look and I want to know how it was done. Except that it's fully justified and the spacing between words is horrendous. Seems that no one can get Knuth & Plass right (at least online); maybe because there's no hyphenation / word breaking. Probably best to just stick with left justified / ragged right.

OscarCunningham 5y ago
There is word breaking though. At my screen width, 'overhauled' is broken in the second paragraph.

derbOac 5y ago

Lol. I was going to comment when there were only two or so others that I really dislike the font used on the website. I loathe the old school Latex look. I appreciate Latex as a markup language, but the computer modern fonts always drove me nuts. To each their own though. It's interesting to me that someone else had the opposite reaction.

OscarCunningham 5y ago
I'm a mathematician, so it might be that it's calmingly familiar rather than any typographical excellence.
- derbOac 5y ago
  I do a fair amount of statistics research. I'm not sure I've quite found my holy grail of math typeface (although I can think of a couple that come close in different ways), but computer modern / etc was never it for me. I can totally see how it would feel sort of comforting though. I hadn't thought about it before but it does remind me of old Springer texts, and I could see how that would feel "homey" or something. This conversation has me kind of "resetting" my perspective on it a bit.
vngzs 5y ago
If you haven't, check it out from a high DPI printer. The font is much more tolerable there. I used uBlock customization to block the font from loading to read the article.
- pooper 5y ago
  > I used uBlock customization to block the font from loading to read the article. For those on Mozilla Firefox[note], please also give the reader view a try. Reader view is also available on other browsers such as Safari on the iPhone. [note] - (if you are not on it, please consider downloading and using it but that is a different conversation)
majewsky 5y ago
Computer Modern fonts are very much designed for printing. On a screen, the really narrow parts of each letter are usually close to unbearable.

salmo 5y ago

Tangentially, I do use a LaTeX inspired Hugo theme[1]. It’s not perfect, but I like it. I worked on math textbooks and LaTeX as a side gig in college and it’s very comfortable for me. Probably off putting to a non nerd audience, but it’s a self indulgent site, so whatever. A LaTeX static site generator could be cool itself. I markdown so much these days it might be refreshing to revisit my past. One day I’ll Google that, I guess. :) [1] https://github.com/queensferryme/hugo-theme-texify https://github.com/queensferryme/hugo-theme-texify