LyX
LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents (WYSIWYM) and not simply their appearance (WYSIWYG). LyX combines the power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with the ease of use of a GUI.
Recent user activities on LyX
- reitbauerchristina5052 liked LyXre
- thompsonmj liked LyXth
- bobbyhiltz Upvoted a comment on Apache OpenOffice Writer as an alternative to LyXIt's open source. However, I'm not sure it does LaTeX well.
I was trying to get out of using MS Office for math work, which is not really the Office sweet spot. An interesting alternative was raw LaTeX, but it was too raw. I found myself dealing with the technicalities of the TeX format instead of expressing the thoughts and ideas.
So I looked around on the web and found LyX. So far it is as advertised, it does its stated job of "What You See is What you Mean". And they have really done a good job of providing an editing tool for equations and academic papers.
In fact it is very impressive for a purely open source tool with mainly academic support. LyX seems like a very mature platform, with several decades of investment and a solid community. It has all the features I need for writing scientific papers and many that I didn't know I need but still found very useful.
One warning though: it is for geeks. It pays to understand the LaTeX format which does effect the behavior of the UI. And configuration is definitely geeky. So is the support community.
Small foibles and complaints:
(1) Search should highlight the line that is found, not merely the actual found item, since it is hard to notice the highlighted item in a full page of text
(2) Try creating some boldface and then removing it with "dissolve". It sort of works but not really. Usability should be improved.
Overall great work and I will continue to use LyX.
Review is of version 2.3.0 on Windows 10.
The GUI looks cool, and the concept is interesting, but how many LaTeX users use it because they like the output? Many of us use it because we have no choice (academic publications require the math and styles forced by journals, conferences, etc.). LyX didn't work when I tried it in this context. Beware before you download/install the 200 MB!
There are many reasons why LyX would or would not work on your particular system (and many of these issues are related to LaTeX, actually). The proper avenue to seek help is the lyx-users ML. As for the download size, LyX itself is more skinny than that; but since it depends on a lot of external tools and converters, a bundle installer for a fresh installation (on Windows) is indeed a big download. But remember that most of this download is actually the included MiKTeX LaTeX distribution, so nothing to blame LyX for. :)
Reply written over 8 years ago
This program is nice, but doesn't allow editing of the TeX source code. This gets frustrating when I know how to do something in LaTeX but can't find it in the program.
It's possible to insert TeX code going to Insert\TeX Code or Ctrl+L and then writing in the box the code or you can edit your preamble using LaTeX/TeX code going to Document\Configuration\LaTeX preamble.
Our office uses LyX and even the elders could change their habits to master it and we are very satisfied. If you are tired of word and its friends, change your office work with Lyx. You won't regret.
Reply written about 9 years ago