LaTeX and big writing projects

[Justin Harford]

I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:

> 
> Hi Robert,
> 
> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex files for documents others have written that have similar features to those you want.
> 
> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
> 
> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
> 
> Liz
> 
> Liz Hare PhD
> Dog Genetics LLC
> doggene at earthlink.net
> http://www.doggenetics.com
> 
> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
>> Jason,
>> 
>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>> 
>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>> 
>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>> 
>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>> 
>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>> 
>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup at braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>>> Org-mode for
>>> notes and other simple documents.
>>> 
>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>>> of the
>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>>> I've
>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>>> no doubt
>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup