Okay, here's that letter with some ideas/suggestions.
On Fri, Jan 22, 1999 at 12:14:25AM +0200, Martin Vermeer wrote:
> LyX -- The Ultimate Document Processor
> --------------------------------------
Bzzzt. Definitely nix the "Ultimate" --- too braggadocio. I also
think calling it "The OpenSource Word Processor" has good PR-value.
I'd then introduce the idea of "Document Processor" in the first
paragraph:
> LyX is a free document processor providing a structure based approach
> to writing documents on your computer. LyX relieves you from drudge by
> allowing you to leave the typesetting job to the software.
Try:
LyX is an open-source word processor providing a structure-based
approach to writing documents. LyX eliminates the drudgery of
formatting every piece of your document. In fact, LyX is more of a
"document-processor." You concentrate on content and structure, while
LyX handles the specific layout of the text based on its context.
Then add on the rest:
> Short notes or letters are a snap. LyX really shines,
> though, when composing complex documents like movie scripts, technical
> documentation, doctoral theses and conference proceedings -- all of
> these real-life success stories from people using LyX.
That would complete my version of paragraph #1.
This next paragraph may be shooting ourselves in the foot:
> While LyX presents the user with the familiar face of a WYSIWYG word
> processor, new users may be taken aback when LyX refuses to do certain
> things, like entering two successive blanks or inserting an empty line.
> LyX doesn't because it knows YOU shouldn't. And so it is throughout:
> welcome to the LyX paradigm! You only set the "ground rules" for your
> document, leaving the finer points of document layout to LyX's
> sophisticated, intelligent rendering engine -- the popular LaTeX
> typesetting system, rightly famous for the superb quality of its output.
Larry also complained about this. How about:
New users may be initially perplexed when they try to enter two
successive blank spaces or insert empty lines in a LyX document. A
user can't do this because LyX thinks in terms of words, sentences,
and paragraphs, not characters, spaces, tabs, and blank lines. Using
the industrial-strength, open-source typesetting engine, LaTeX, LyX
generates variable-length word and line spacing. The result is
visually-appealing output of superb quality.
> 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
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Old terminology, Martin. Change to:
"...user's guide, and additional manuals describing LyX's more
specialized features."
> LyX runs in standard Unix/X11 environments (Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, most
> proprietary Unixes, even Cygnus/WinNT somewhat experimentally), and
> provides native support for postscript fonts and figures. It contains a
^^^^^^^^^^
You misspelled "PostScript®". ;)
> Using LyX requires no familiarity with LaTeX -- unless you want to do
> advanced things. If you're one of those users, know that LyX offers full
> LaTeX transparency and will import and export well-formed LaTeX documents.
Okay, this one I don't like. As Jean-Marc noted, the comp.*.*.tex.*
folks will laugh us off. Try this:
Using LyX requires no familiarity with LaTeX. Nevertheless, LyX
offers full LaTeX transparency; all of the power of LaTeX is still
available through LyX. Furthermore, LyX offers features such as
on-the-fly WYSIWYG-translation of most LaTeX math macros, LaTeX
export, and import of "well-formed" LaTeX documents. Since LyX's
WYSIWYM-approach makes navigating your document easier, even the most
die-hard LaTeXpert will find LyX an indispensable tool.
That's my $0.02
--
John Weiss
