Re: Is LyX usable ?

[Mark Gray <markgray iago nac net>]

Preben Randhol <randhol@pvv.org> writes:

> Karl Eichwalder <keichwa@gmx.net> wrote on 19/08/2000 (17:08) :
>> 
>> Mark Gray <markgray@iago.nac.net> writes:
>> 
>>> Egads -- the latest lyx allows you to export in html -- my apologies
>>> (I have not tried it in four or five years -- it certainly has grown
>>> up a bit.)
> 
> LyX also has a docbook template, but how it works I don't know as I
> haven't used it. More info => http://www.lyx.org

I discovered this later on, but was far too embarassed by that time to
point it out.

>> 
>> But for the Help System we will need proper DocBook files (SGML/XML).
>> It isn't that difficult to get use to the DocBook DTD.
> 
> Only problem is that one use more time structuring the document than
> actually thinking about the text itself.

Also, there is a big problem in that the results are not easily
searchable -- all the documentation created becomes more of a
hindrance than a help when you end up having to grep the html output
in order to figure out how to do something.

>> I know some authors need a WYSISYG like system -- nevertheless in the
>> long run SGML/XML files are more useful.
> 
> That depends a lot. SGML requires quite a lot of work when it comes to
> maintaining a dynamical document. Also if you need to document
> scientific applications DocBook won't cut it as it does not have
> equation capabilities (at least it was so last time I checked).

I am resigned now to learning DocBook, but it would give me a lot more
confidence in learning "Yet another latest documentation standard" if
it had more of the basic essential features that LaTeX, man pages, and
texinfo have (and if the tool used to transform it was being actively
maintained and documented -- Oct 1998 is a bit long in the tooth these
days.)