\LaTeX
Why \LaTeX? What \LaTeX?
\TeX is a program created by Professor Emeritus
Donald E. Knuth
for typesetting text and mathematical formulae. Knuth was tired of lousy
typesetting of papers he has written and started to work for a better
system.
\LaTeX is a macro package written by
Leslie Lamport. \LaTeX uses plain \TeX as a kind of engine
Here's the main advantages of using \LaTeX
- Professionally crafted layouts are available which make a document
really look as if "printed"
- The typesetting of mathematical formulae is supported in a convenient way
- The user only needs to learn a few easy to understand commands,
which specify the logical structure of a document. They almost never need
to tinker with the actual layout of the document.
- ...
(for more advantages, read the original list written in
Oetiker, Partl,Hyna and Schelegl:The Not So Short Introduction
to \LaTeX which can be found in allmost any environment where \LaTeX
is installed. For example, in isoveli.tml.hut.fi the path is
/usr/share/texmf/doc/latex/general, and the file is named
lshort.dvi. Yes, the file lists some of the disadvantages of
\LaTeX, too. ;)
There are other useful documents in the
general-directory which are worth reading. dvi-files can be read with
xdvi by saying xdvi 'filename' or by converting them
to PostScript with dvips, for example:
dvips -o 'filename'.ps 'filename'.dvi (dvi stands for Device
Independent)
Where to start?
I have asked to give some kind of introduction to \LaTeX. This is one kind
of attempt to fulfill this wish. Here are a couple of links I gathered for
a places to start learning.
\LaTeX project homepage
Open Directory: Computers: Software: Typesetting: TeX: LaTeX
CSC:n \LaTeX opas(in Finnish)
Jyväskylän Yliopiston \LaTeX-opas
(in Finnish)
A brief tutorial
to \LaTeX by Henri Gavin
Aihetta muuten vaan läheltä sivuten... :)(in finnish)
A sample \LaTeX file
king.tex can be found from the pages of Jyväskylän Yliopisto, written by
Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho (only in
Finnish again, sorry...). The same file can be found in the page of
University of Jyväskylä linked above. The document
king.ps is the
result of the above sample file. The document lists most of the primary
motivations for using \LaTeX, it is worth reading, believe me! ;)
There are some sample files and tutorials in isoveli.tml.hut.fi under
directory /Docs/LaTeX
11.8.2000, Pekka