Date:         Wed, 17 Mar 2004 14:57:36 -0500
Reply-To:     "Fehd, Ronald J. (PHPPO)" <rjf2@CDC.GOV>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Fehd, Ronald J. (PHPPO)" <rjf2@CDC.GOV>
Subject:      Why I use LaTeX was: your favorite math equations editor?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> From: Peter Flom [mailto:flom@ndri.org]
> You, and numerous others, seem to be very strong
> LaTeX supporters.
> I've never used it.
> I can certainly see it's value if you are writing a
> book, but if all you need is some slides, or an article,
> what are it's advantages?
> It seems awfully complex......
> MathEdit is pretty simple to use.

LOL  well, Peter that's what I say about SAS macro language, too:
"simple, yet powerful."

based on your comment you get output which you then import
into either Word or PowerPoint?
i.e., a two-step process, right

> Also, in the types of places I publish (mostly)
> they want Word Documents.   Does LaTeX do this?

No. But as a SUG author this year
I was not one of the one's scrambling to figure out
how to convert MySUGpaper.doc to MySUGpaper.pdf
since my output was already a pdf

It took a few rounds to get my PharmaSUG papers
with the correct pdf document attributes,
but that information is now within the PharmaSUG*.tex
documents and not something I have (yet) to add in Adobe.

> I'm just curious as to whether it is worth learning LaTeX

Why I use LaTeX:
* free
* openSource
* operating system independent:
  available for:
     DOS + Windoze
     Unix
     Macintosh
  see: output as pdf
* input : text file
* output: professionally typeset material
          either to print on paper
          or pdf for document sharing
          or pdf for presentation
          or html for web development/usage
* free
* learning curve: steep as SAS
* stable
* customizable
* unbreakable,
  ever have a large Word document crash and take your text with it?
  i.e, larger than 50 pages?
* provides bibliography, table of contents, index
  pagination, auto-numbering of sections, equations, theorems,
  List of Tables, and Figures
  can customize for List of Programs, other Lists
* build/write documents in text editor of your choice
  for me that's UltraEdit v10
* supports include of files
  which enables testing in small increments
  every wonder why it takes a moment to scroll down a page
  in a large word-processing document?
* supports hyperrefs
* almost forgot: ODS LaTeX
* free

that said
I have to admit that I had several years experience
typesetting using IBM Selectric Composer equipment
back in the late 60s
so I was familiar with the quality of the output
and a lot of the esoteric jargon.

Being a SAS macro writer has helped me
in my own customizing of LaTeX for my book usage.

Ron Fehd  the LaTeX maven  CDC Atlanta GA USA RJF2@cdc.gov

Efficiency is intelligent laziness. -David Dunham
... and often involves choice of good software