Here is the next version of the LyX Public Relations document.
Please comment on this before the weekend; I intend to work on it then and
post what is then the pre-final version on Monday. I will finalize it then
next week, in time for the 1 february deadline.
So, all remarks welcome; but let's try to converge. No really large revisions
any more, but rather reformulations. I am reluctant to add material; only if
there is a really good reason.
As this is like a press release, it should have the essentials in the start
and taper off, so it can be truncated with limited damage. Please consider
this too.
As a second document, I include my shortlist of email addresses to send this
press release to. It is very incomplete. As there must be a mailing list from
previous versions, could I have it please? Allan, do you have a list for
merging with this one?
And by the way, what about RPM and DEB packages? Should we say anything about
them or even make them available/point to them?
Please remember, this is meant as a (short) press release. I will later try
to write a kind of overview article for (at least) Linux Gazette, or whatever
other ezine might be interested (Linux World?)
Happy LyXing!
Martin
---
Public release of LyX version 1.0.0
===================================
What is LyX?
------------
LyX is a free document processor providing a modern approach to
writing documents on your computer. Compared to common word processors,
LyX makes you more productive by relegating the gory details of the
typesetting job to software. You become immediately productive for
writing short notes or letters, but LyX really shines when composing
complex documents like movie scripts, technical documentation, doctoral
theses and conference proceedings (real-life examples!).
Technically, this is done by combining the comfortable and familiar
interface of a WYSIWYG word processor with the high quality output
of a real typesetting system. LyX interfaces with LaTeX, the most
popular typesetting software available; however, no familiarity with
LaTeX is required -- unless you want to do advanced things. (If you're
one of those users, know that LyX offers full LaTeX transparency and
exports/imports well-formed LaTeX documents.)
LyX operates under a paradigm different from that of conventional word
processors. You set the "ground rules" for your document, but leave the
finer points of document layout to LyX's highly advanced, intelligent
rendering engine -- the LaTeX typesetting system. We call this WYSIWYM
-- What You See Is What You MEAN. All the common formatting intelligence
of LaTeX is presented to the user through visual controls, such as a
table-of-contents window acting as an outline browser, "live" reference
links to figures, tables and literature references, section and list
numbering, and more. This liberates the author from many of the
headaches associated with typical word processing. The price to pay
is a less easy access to changing many of the document layout rules
on-the-fly -- intentionally or otherwise.
Release 1.0 includes many standard formats and templates that will,
without effort by the author, produce documents of a particular format.
There is a growing library of formats and templates, allowing the user
to compose a wide range of documents.
LyX runs on Linux-like platforms (Unix, OS/2, WinNT + Cygnus
experimentally), and provides native support for postscript fonts
and figures. It contains a best-of-breed, fully integrated formula
editor, adding WYSIWYG convenience to LaTeX's legendary math writing
capabilities.
LyX has excellent and copious on-line help, including a beginner's
tutorial, a user's guide, and a manual for advanced users; its menu
system has been localized into a dozen different (Latin character set)
languages, each selectable at run time.
LyX's lack of true WYSIWYG can be an ergonomic advantage. Just blow up
the screen font; as you need not actually see the finished layout --
LaTeX has a way of knowing what you mean -- you can work comfortably
also on small displays, and get it right with just a couple of dvi or
ghostview previews.
One feature lacking from LyX is import of MS Word documents. The LyX
Team considers this not worth it, as word processors in general are
moving away from closed formats to the XML standard. So, as long as
you need continued access to legacy documents, you should also keep a
traditional word processor (like Corel's WordPerfect for Linux) on
your disk.
All in all, LyX is a complete environment for writing documents. For
scientific authoring and typesetting, there is simply nothing better
than LyX + LaTeX; but it is eminently usable for general word processing
by "dummy" users as well.
Read more about LyX (including screen shots) at:
http://www.lyx.org/
What's new compared to LyX version 0.12.0?
------------------------------------------
Most importantly, import of existing LaTeX documents using the new
reLyX perl script. Better support for SGML/LinuxDoc, tables, and
indexing/bibliographies, etc. Summing up, it's just better looking,
better working, better documented, and lots of bugs have been fixed.
How stable is LyX?
------------------
This release is considered stable, but as with any software, you should
take appropriate back-up steps in a production environment.
What about KLyX?
----------------
KLyX is a port of LyX version 0.12.0 to KDE done primarily by Matthias
Ettrich and Kalle Dalheimer. It was done as a proof-of-principle, to
demo how good looking LyX could be made on this desktop environment,
and implement some advanced features which this environment facilitates.
There is an intention to re-integrate KLyX into the LyX code base; by
version 1.2, LyX should be GUI toolkit/desktop agnostic.
Where can I get it?
-------------------
LyX is distributed under the GNU General Public Lisense (GPL), which
means specifically that you can use it for free. See http://www.gnu.org/.
The main LyX site is
ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/
with mirrors at
ftp://alpha.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/lyx
ftp://lip6.fr/pub/lyx/
ftp://ftp.sdsc.edu/pub/other/lyx/
ftp://ftp.fciencias.unam.mx/pub/Lyx/
ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/LyX/
The source code package is available at:
ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/stable/lyx-1.0.0.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/lyx/lyx-1.0.0.tar.gz
and at the mirrors listed above.
You need to have XForms version 0.81, 0.86 or 0.88 to compile your own version.
Version 0.88 is highly recommended.
Ready-to-run precompiled binaries for various platforms are available at:
ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/bin/1.0.0/
Binaries for i386-Linux are also available at your local metalab
/previously known as sunsite) mirror:
ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/editors/lyx-1.0.0-bin.tar.gz
It is possible to run LyX in a temporary directory before you install it.
About the LyX Team
------------------
The LyX Team is a world wide consortium of volunteer contributors. Many,
many people have helped make the 1.0 release possible, including:
Lars Gullik Bjoennes, Alejandro Aguilar Sierra, Asger Alstrup,
Jean-Marc Lasgouttes, Juergen Vigna, John P. Weiss, Bernhard
Iselborn, Andre Spiegel, Allan Rae, Henner Zeller, Robert van der
Kamp, David L. Johnson, Amir Karger, Joacim Persson, Peter
Suetterlin, SMiyata, Alkis Polyzotis, ...
Special thanks should go to Matthias Ettrich who started it all.
Feedback
--------
Please direct any comments or questions to the appropriate mailing list as
described on the LyX homepage (http://www.lyx.org/).
Enjoy!
The LyX Team
---------------------------------------------
Info to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Linux Weekly News
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Linux Today
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Slashdot
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Freshmeat
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Linux Gazette
[EMAIL PROTECTED] FreeBSD
[EMAIL PROTECTED] LyX port owner
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Dante
[EMAIL PROTECTED] TeX User Group
[EMAIL PROTECTED] CTAN
[EMAIL PROTECTED] American Institute of Physics
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Elsevier
[EMAIL PROTECTED] TeX-related URLs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Chicago Journal of Theoretical Computer Science
[EMAIL PROTECTED] American Math. Soc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Scientific Apps. for Linux
[EMAIL PROTECTED] xforms
---
