Dnia Sat, Apr 03, 2010 at 02:58:37PM +0000, John Haltiwanger napisał(a):
As this is precisely my situation, perhaps I can offer you the benefit of a test-able target audience? Today I am already looking into the best route to learning TeX/mkiv in a holistic (ie not just looking for the 'recipe' I need to meet a given deadline). I have just entered full-time thesis mode, so the question begins Should I just sit down and read the TeXBook? (something that will be done regardless, it's just a question as what is most worthwhile to Getting Something Done Right Now) or would it be that the LuaTeX manual is more directly applicable? Or, perhaps, a chapter from your book? ;)
Sorry to reply to myself, but the send button got pressed a bit early. The point is, I want to approach TeX/mkiv in a holistic way. I don't necessarily want to be mired in TeX constraints when it seems LuaTeX will be a) easier b) more relevant c) more powerful. However, I can imagine that knowing the former is important to understanding/learning the latter.
My 3 cents: if you want to have your thesis done *quickly* and in an easy, "howto - recipe - faq" way, just use LaTeX (probably with amsrefs/tikz/memoir/a few others). If you want to do more unusual things, and have some spare time to play with them and ask a lot of questions here - use ConTeXt. (Some time ago, on the blog of the Malaysian LaTeX User Group (http://latex-my.blogspot.com/) there was a nice example of having a colourful, good-looking book done in LaTeX, btw, so it's also possible, of course; but LaTeX was *not* designed with such things in mind.) And please, *do* read the TeXbook - it's sooooo much fun!
Anyway, at the moment I'm content to read Taco's new typography chapter and add a few notes :)
Now I'm just feeling obliged to do the same. I'll print them out and read on the bus/tramway (or is it called a "cable car"?) Regards -- Marcin Borkowski (http://mbork.pl)