Re: Org-mode as a replacement for LaTeX (was: Fwd: Exporting latex without preamble)

[tsd@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye)]

Aloha Karl,

I agree that AucTeX is awesome.  I use it every day at work with much
pleasure.

I've been using Org-mode with the goal of creating reproducible
research, where the LaTeX output is just one part of the package.  In my
case, this is something that requires Org-mode for its ability to pass
results between code blocks written in different languages.  I can't do
these things in AucTeX.

At first, like you, I was suspicious of adding a layer between me and
LaTeX.  I was impatient with figuring out how to make the little things
work right.  I'm still not able to control LaTeX as finely as I'd like
from within Org-mode, but I've managed to close the gap sufficiently
that my last four publications were authored completely with Org-mode.
The one I'm working on now is Org-mode, too.  I'm really liking it as an
authoring environment.

All the best,
Tom


Karl Voit <devnull@Karl-Voit.at> writes:

> * Thomas S. Dye <tsd@tsdye.com> wrote:
>> Aloha Rafael,
>
> Sorry, I thought you might as well be interested in my point of
> view.
>
> First: I am pretty new to Org-mode but I am using LaTeX a while now
> and I am even teaching LaTeX to motivated beginners.
>
>> Is there a reason not to have everything in one .org file?  I find
>> Org-mode's ability to fold on headlines and to edit subtrees in indirect
>> buffers very convenient, even for long documents.  For my work, that
>> functionality has replaced LaTeX \include files.
>
> I did not follow the thread here but I do think I get the idea that
> you want to replace LaTeX with Org-mode and generate a PDF via
> LaTeX/PDF-export functionality of Org-mode.
>
> On the one hand, I do agree that (simple) PDF documents are written
> very easily with Org-mode. But on the other hand you are going to
> add just another layer. This means that you probably end up wanting
> this LaTeX feature in Org-mode, that other handy LaTeX feature too
> and so forth.
>
> In my point of view, if you leave the basic stuff, you should stick
> to LaTeX. And I do have good news to you: You are very fortune
> because Emacs does have the IMHO most advanced editor support for
> LaTeX: AucTeX (with all of its extensions like preview-latex and
> RefTeX).
>
> I plan to use Org-mode as an outline tool for larger documents,
> where the basic structure evolves, keywords are moved from one part
> to the other. But before I start to write the detailed document
> content, I move to AucTeX, having the great possibilities for
> writing documents that end up being great PDFs.
>
> But this is just my point of view.

-- 
Thomas S. Dye
http://www.tsdye.com