cs326ag@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) (03/18/91)
[Thanks for fixing the subject line, I forgot to the first time... and as this has nothing to do with the NeXT, I removed all traces of it from the subject line.] In article <1991Mar17.183107.23876@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> jeffo@uiuc.edu writes: >In <1991Mar17.092200.18019@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> I, LJR, wrote: >>This comment about `no productivity software' is utter BS of the first >>degree. CED/ISpell/AmigaTeX tied together with ARexx makes for >>one hell of a `productive environment' for writing proposals or research >>papers. > >The learning curve required to make any kind of use of TeX (all by itself >is too steep for those that just want to be able to get something like ... I really meant to say LaTeX, and the point is that this type of high powered `productivity software' is available for the Amiga. The other guy claimed otherwise... Even a dolt could learn LaTeX in under two days, if they look into it! I learned LaTeX in one night, manual in one hand, keyboard in the other. (It was my last day of work and the boss wanted some documentation on my dvi to ps translator, DON'T ask for it, it only runs on VAXENs under the VMS operating system and I don't have the rights or the sources to give it away... dvips by Tomas Rokicki does pretty much what mine did anyways :-) >Also, to make decent use of ARexx, one must learn ARexx. This also takes >valuable time. Therefore, using a product like Microsoft Word really helps >to get the job done and learn what is necessary to get the job done. Ahh, if you had come to my ARexx talk (Feb. 5!), you would be a leg up on that, now wouldn't you... Also, I (and others) have already rigged the interfaces up. Like water falls down the mountain, so do ARexx macros written by the Masters (I've given talks on ARexx, so I guess I qualify :-), trickle to the people who need them. ARexx bring incredible power, but you are right, to make good use of it, *you* must learn it. Microsoft Word may have power also (and, in any event, you have to climb a hump to obtain full use of it also), but a well integrated environment (under ARexx) also brings flexibility. >I'm not against learning the aforementioned products, but in most cases >even to get the kind of output and functionality that you can get with a >single package (like Word), you need to spend too much time learning and >not enough time doing. <below is a general argument, not just related to the Amiga, as started using TeX long before I had it on my Amiga...> I'm not sure I agree with that statement, especially with how easy CED and LaTeX are to learn to use. To each his own, I guess. But (food for thought), what happens when the power of Word comes to a screeching halt? Then you are screwed and you have to learn LaTeX anyways :-). These times when you need more power usually come at the worst possible times (i.e. under a deadline, etc.) Hell, I don't even know how to do the really tricky things in LaTeX, much less TeX, but I rest easy knowing that the power is there waiting till the day I need it. After messing around a while (and reading new sections of the manual :-0), I can get any- thing I want. (PLUS, when the power of Word ends, you have to reformat all that text into something else. I'm quite glad that I'll never have to do that.) >| "If you hear an onion ring - answer it." J.B. Nicholson | >| jeffo@uiuc.edu (Internet) These opinions are mine, that's all.| Loren J. Rittle -- ``NewTek stated that the Toaster *would* *not* be made to directly support the Mac, at this point Sculley stormed out of the booth...'' --- A scene at the recent MacExpo. Gee, you wouldn't think that an Apple Exec would be so worried about one little Amiga device... Loren J. Rittle l-rittle@uiuc.edu