[mdlug] [OT] Perspective

[A. Kalten]

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:45:57 -0400
"M. D. Krauss" <zeros0and1ones at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> I'm not sure I agree here.  I don't know how to use groff and/or LaTeX
> and I am not new to Linux at all - it's just never been something I
> needed - but I tend to think that typesetting (and indeed any visual
> design task) is one area where GUI and WYSIWYG (or WYSIWYM a la Lyx -
> say that three times fast with marbles in your mouth) have become too
> valuable.  Mind, I'm not saying that office software is exactly in a
> good state... I think it's a mess, including open-source programs like
> OOo, but a mess that is easier to use then the well-designed but
> GUI-less tools you mention.
> 

Everybody mentions either groff/LaTex or OpenOffice.  But a very
convenient and quick method for producing documents based on simple
text files is enscript, or its cousin a2ps.  With these programs
there is no complicated mark up to learn.  Just produce the text
file and run it through enscript/a2ps.  With a little practice very
suitable letters or other simple documents are a snap.