4 ms·

The deeper I got, the more I realized really supporting the entire LaTeX toolchain in WASM would mean simulating an entire linux distribution :( We wanted to su

by vicapow 8mo ago

The deeper I got, the more I realized really supporting the entire LaTeX toolchain in WASM would mean simulating an entire linux distribution :( We wanted to support Beamer, LuaLaTeX, mobile (wasn't working with WASM because of resource limits), etc.

seazoning 8mo ago
We had been building literally the same thing for the last 8 months along with a great browsing environment over arxiv -- might just have to sunset it Any plans of having typst integrated anytime soon?
- vicapow 8mo ago
  I'm not against typst. I think it's integration would be a lot easier and more straightforward I just don't know if it's really that popular yet in academia.
  - gunalx 8mo ago
    its not yet, but gaining traction.
BlueTemplar 8mo ago
But what's the point ? To end up with yet another shitty (because running inside a browser, in particular its interface) web app ? Why not focus efforts into making a proper program (you know, with IBM menu bars and keyboard shortcuts), but with collaborative tools too ?
- jll29 8mo ago
  You are right in pointing out that the Web browser isn't the most suitable UI paradigm for highly interactive applications like a scientific typesetting system/text editor. I have occasionally lost a paragraph just by accidental marking a few lines and pressing [Backspace]. But at the moment, there is no better option than Overleaf, and while I encourage you to write what you propose if you can, Overleaf will be the bar that any such system needs to be compared against.
  - BlueTemplar 8mo ago
    OP is talking about developing an alternative to Overleaf. But they are still trying to do it inside a browser !
storystarling 8mo ago
The WASM constraints make sense given the resource limits, especially for mobile. If you are moving that compute server-side though I am curious about the unit economics. LaTeX pipelines are surprisingly heavy and I wonder how you manage the margins on that infrastructure at scale.

by vicapow 8mo ago

seazoning 8mo ago

We had been building literally the same thing for the last 8 months along with a great browsing environment over arxiv -- might just have to sunset it Any plans of having typst integrated anytime soon?

vicapow 8mo ago
I'm not against typst. I think it's integration would be a lot easier and more straightforward I just don't know if it's really that popular yet in academia.
- gunalx 8mo ago
  its not yet, but gaining traction.

BlueTemplar 8mo ago

But what's the point ? To end up with yet another shitty (because running inside a browser, in particular its interface) web app ? Why not focus efforts into making a proper program (you know, with IBM menu bars and keyboard shortcuts), but with collaborative tools too ?

jll29 8mo ago
You are right in pointing out that the Web browser isn't the most suitable UI paradigm for highly interactive applications like a scientific typesetting system/text editor. I have occasionally lost a paragraph just by accidental marking a few lines and pressing [Backspace]. But at the moment, there is no better option than Overleaf, and while I encourage you to write what you propose if you can, Overleaf will be the bar that any such system needs to be compared against.
- BlueTemplar 8mo ago
  OP is talking about developing an alternative to Overleaf. But they are still trying to do it inside a browser !

storystarling 8mo ago

The WASM constraints make sense given the resource limits, especially for mobile. If you are moving that compute server-side though I am curious about the unit economics. LaTeX pipelines are surprisingly heavy and I wonder how you manage the margins on that infrastructure at scale.