Taco Hoekwater wrote:
What do you do with ConTeXT?
I first learned ConTeXt because of work: My employer makes measuring instruments for industry and I write and/or compile and layout the end-user manuals for those instruments. Traditionally, those manuals were written and edited in Word, but when the mass of text and the amount of figures grew, it was obvious that I needed a new tool before becoming a total wreck due to corrupted and unruly Word files. A workmate had written his thesis in TeX and started to look for various TeX based solutions, of which I finally chose ConTeXt. I had to stick to Windows because of work. We first tried MikTeX, but that just didn't work out. Then I got TeXLive and it worked - except fonts.... Hours later and with the help of the email list I finally found the correct combination of magical lines and there it was. And then somebody mentioned that I could get Emacs with Context-mode in Windows and that's it. That's still how I run ConteXt at work, although now there are easier Windows options available (not to talk about the Mac option...). Using Emacs usually gains points from younger nerds we occassionally employ. :-) ConTeXt was the first TeX based system I've ever used, but I was used to using styles and had done HTML (still do it by hand), so I have some idea of what I was getting into. Looking back I realize that I've learned an awful lot of things although I often feel that I don't know any of the things I should. Having to do something new usually results in curses at the beginning, but when it works, it always works. I'll still use Word (and equivalents) for small stuff, but when I need something big and printable, ConTeXt is the tool. My real "ConTeXt moment" came last summer, when I had to redo the layout on one of our old Word files that had been edited by somebody else in between. It was disgustingly difficult to the degree that I seriously considered cutting and pasting the whole thing into Emacs and ConTeXting it to my liking! Mari