4 ms·

its for people who want latex but are mad that latex became c++

nailer 1y ago
LaTeX also has some bizarre defaults like bitmap fonts in a tool designed to allow people to create high quality typeset documents.
- throwawaymaths 1y ago
  which is ironic considering at one time the appeal of LaTeX was "sane defaults". Don't get me wrong. The default choices were really the best choice at some point in the past. They just no longer are.
  - Akronymus 1y ago
    And latex is one of very few programs where changing defaults would fundamentally undermine its very purpose (being able to recreate documents no matter how old)
- michal_h21 1y ago
  This was true maybe 20 years ago, before TeX engines that output directly to PDF were created. Today, the recommended engine is LuaLaTeX, and it defaults to OpenType fonts.
  - nailer 1y ago
    Thanks for updating me. That corresponds with my own timeline where I last tried it 20 years ago.
WillAdams 1y ago
If one just chooses a reasonable documentclass and if need be a few packages suited to the requirements of one's document, then it all "just works" with (mostly) sensible defaults and minimal configuration. Memoir hugely simplified my own work in LaTeX back when I was doing book composition. Or, just use LyX....
- sureglymop 1y ago
  Well, you'll have to install and keep those packages somewhere on your system. And maybe a few months from now after your latex distribution got updated by the system your document suddenly no longer compiles. What I want is something like npm-like package management for this, where the packages are just kept there next to the document. I don't care if I'll have a package 20 times on my system either, storage hasn't been a concern in many years.
  - blenderob 1y ago
    > And maybe a few months from now after your latex distribution got updated by the system your document suddenly no longer compiles. I'm using LaTeX 2e for 25+ years. This has literally never happened to me. If that's not stability, I don't know what is. LaTeX documents I wrote in my grad days still compile for me. I just checked and it does. I do keep the dependency packages myself in my folder. Has this issue ever happened to anyone? Why would LaTeX distribution getting updated break my documents? It's still the same latex compiler and the same base styles and packages!
    - WillAdams 1y ago
      The only instance of a document not working right anymore for me was a really hacked book using an early/beta version of memoir --- there were (documented) breaking changes for the final release --- updated to match the new macro calls and it was back to working in short order.
    - throwawaymaths 1y ago
      > I'm using LaTeX 2e for 25+ years it gets annoying when you use LaTeX once a year for 25 years.
      - blenderob 1y ago
        > when you use LaTeX once a year for 25 years That's me. Is there any specific issue you face which stops you from compiling old files? As I mentioned in my other comment, my grad school days documents are still compiling fine. If you still use LaTeX 2e and you've got all the dependency packages with you, pdflatex should Just Work. right? I can't remember any major change that would outright break your compilation. And I haven't seen such issue too myself. So I genuinely want to know what specific issues you or others face that wouldn't even let you compile your document.
behnamoh 1y ago
when this tool has "FakeBold"[0] like Latex has, I'll make the switch. [0]: https://x.com/OrganicGPT/status/1920202649481236745/photo/1 https://x.com/OrganicGPT/status/1920202649481236745/photo/1
- kzrdude 1y ago
  Is there something like that for Typst?
- tempfile 1y ago
  What does that actually mean? The tweet is not very clear. Is it the bold in the header? What's special about it?
  - robinsonb5 1y ago
    I'm assuming it's emboldening text by thickening up the strokes instead of using a (possibly non-existent) bold variant of the font?
slashdave 1y ago
Became? When? I have latex documents written a couple decades ago that still render fine. What happens in 10 years to all the Quarkdown documents once this fad fades away?

LaTeX also has some bizarre defaults like bitmap fonts in a tool designed to allow people to create high quality typeset documents.

throwawaymaths 1y ago
which is ironic considering at one time the appeal of LaTeX was "sane defaults". Don't get me wrong. The default choices were really the best choice at some point in the past. They just no longer are.
- Akronymus 1y ago
  And latex is one of very few programs where changing defaults would fundamentally undermine its very purpose (being able to recreate documents no matter how old)
michal_h21 1y ago
This was true maybe 20 years ago, before TeX engines that output directly to PDF were created. Today, the recommended engine is LuaLaTeX, and it defaults to OpenType fonts.
- nailer 1y ago
  Thanks for updating me. That corresponds with my own timeline where I last tried it 20 years ago.

WillAdams 1y ago

If one just chooses a reasonable documentclass and if need be a few packages suited to the requirements of one's document, then it all "just works" with (mostly) sensible defaults and minimal configuration. Memoir hugely simplified my own work in LaTeX back when I was doing book composition. Or, just use LyX....

sureglymop 1y ago
Well, you'll have to install and keep those packages somewhere on your system. And maybe a few months from now after your latex distribution got updated by the system your document suddenly no longer compiles. What I want is something like npm-like package management for this, where the packages are just kept there next to the document. I don't care if I'll have a package 20 times on my system either, storage hasn't been a concern in many years.
- blenderob 1y ago
  > And maybe a few months from now after your latex distribution got updated by the system your document suddenly no longer compiles. I'm using LaTeX 2e for 25+ years. This has literally never happened to me. If that's not stability, I don't know what is. LaTeX documents I wrote in my grad days still compile for me. I just checked and it does. I do keep the dependency packages myself in my folder. Has this issue ever happened to anyone? Why would LaTeX distribution getting updated break my documents? It's still the same latex compiler and the same base styles and packages!
  - WillAdams 1y ago
    The only instance of a document not working right anymore for me was a really hacked book using an early/beta version of memoir --- there were (documented) breaking changes for the final release --- updated to match the new macro calls and it was back to working in short order.
  - throwawaymaths 1y ago
    > I'm using LaTeX 2e for 25+ years it gets annoying when you use LaTeX once a year for 25 years.
    - blenderob 1y ago
      > when you use LaTeX once a year for 25 years That's me. Is there any specific issue you face which stops you from compiling old files? As I mentioned in my other comment, my grad school days documents are still compiling fine. If you still use LaTeX 2e and you've got all the dependency packages with you, pdflatex should Just Work. right? I can't remember any major change that would outright break your compilation. And I haven't seen such issue too myself. So I genuinely want to know what specific issues you or others face that wouldn't even let you compile your document.

behnamoh 1y ago

when this tool has "FakeBold"[0] like Latex has, I'll make the switch. [0]: https://x.com/OrganicGPT/status/1920202649481236745/photo/1 https://x.com/OrganicGPT/status/1920202649481236745/photo/1

kzrdude 1y ago
Is there something like that for Typst?
tempfile 1y ago
What does that actually mean? The tweet is not very clear. Is it the bold in the header? What's special about it?
- robinsonb5 1y ago
  I'm assuming it's emboldening text by thickening up the strokes instead of using a (possibly non-existent) bold variant of the font?

slashdave 1y ago

Became? When? I have latex documents written a couple decades ago that still render fine. What happens in 10 years to all the Quarkdown documents once this fad fades away?