[OS X TeX] Who should use (La)TeX - who is able to use it?

[Jan Eden]

Arno Kruse wrote on 14.11.2004:

>Dear members of the list,
>
>For years I read the articles which are announced in this list with
>great interest; I got  many suggestions and a lot of help - please
>accept my best thanks. But during the last months a worrying feeling
>was arising more and more, especially when reading the lot of
>sometimes extremely complicated questions and answers: Is a "normal"
>user generally capable to use  LaTeX?
>
>A "normal" user: I simply think of a person without absorbed
>interest in: operating systems; typographical rules; installing
>questions; learning commands; and so on.
>
The most common type of a normal user even refuses to use a Mac, since the learning curve is too steep. Many people tend to stick with whatever system they got to know the first time they encountered computers.

And this is, unfortunately, Microsoft Word on a computer running the Microsoft Windows OS.

I was able to convince two of my colleagues to try LaTeX, and I got another one to switch to the Mac - but the other 95% firmly insist that Word is the best solution for them.

You cannot make LaTeX (or any other advanced typesetting system) simple enough to convert the normal users you seem to refer to.

Best,

Jan
-- 
If all else fails read the instructions. - Donald Knuth
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