On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 05:37:07PM +0200, David van Diepen wrote:

Dear everybody,

I don't have a particular question for the moment but I thought it would be nice to introduce myself as I have just joined the email list.

My name is David van Diepen, 49 years old. I am a process engineer. I have two children.

A few months ago my son had to prepare his thesis and that's when I thought latex would be applicable. Very many years ago I learned to work with latex during my education, so I thought that it wouldn't be too hard to help him out with that. At the end of the day it actually was hard work to get to grisps again but after 10 days we had prepared a very good-looking thesis and that's what counts.

In the line of my work I regularly have to prepare technical documents. So I thought it's perhaps a good idea to start using latex for that too. My teamleader has given me some space to do that even though latex is completely unsupported at work, so I'm doing all that from home. The first document was recieved quite wel actually.

As you'll probably understand my collegues have difficulty appreciating the value of a properly designed document. Everybody seems to agree to a similar and often poor appearance. I am the son of a graphic designer, so maybe that's why I do care what the documents I produce look like. For instance, I have a couple of nice books with examples of typefaces (letterproeven) lying about that I inherited, these are an inspiration too. Also I think a well designed document conveys the content better. So I'm glad that I am allowed start with this development even though the benefits are very abstract still.

That's when I thought whether it would be a good idea to continue investing time in latex, or whether it would be better to go with the new developments, that being the luatex/context combination. So I thought I should at least give it a try.

That try was actually harder than I expected. On hindsight I think it could have been easier if I had found the right channels to documentation sooner. There is a lot of information on context to be found but that includes a lot of information that's already superseded. So a couple of times it took me quite some time before I realized there was a newer and easier method. Anyway I'm well on my way now with my first technical ducument in context. The thing I like most about context is that the structure makes good sense. In latex there have been so many additions troughout the years that it has become quite messy really. In the longer run I think the greater array of possibilities is going to pay off for my purposes too.

So I would like to thank you all for allowing me to use this great software. I expect that I may post questions in the future because I am planning to try more things. For now it's maybe a good idea if I put some contributions in the wiki. As a newby I have struggled at some points and maybe some howto's with that perspective can be helpful for other newcomers.

For now, thanks again, yours faithfully, David

Hello David! Thank you for introducing yourself! It's indeed so, as you pointed out, a lot of information about ConTeXt is a bit outdated. But, as every programmer knows, it's hard after finishing a program to find the time to document it. And ConTeXt is developing quickly. For the same reason as you I left LaTeX four or five years ago and began to use ConTeXt. And peu à peu I changed even all my elder LaTeX-programs to ConTeXt. If you have trouble to find a solution to a problem ask the list. There are very friendly and highly experienced people and you certainly will be astonished how quick you shall get an answer in most cases. But always send a so called MWE (Minimal Working Example) along with your question. Good luck with ConTeXt and give it more than just a try! Best wishes, Rudolf