Gaining Comfort in the Command Line for TeX & LaTeX

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  • Thread starter Thread starter Jimmy Snyder
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around gaining comfort with the command line for using TeX and LaTeX, focusing on the differences between the two systems, the choice of utilities, and personal experiences with command line usage. It includes aspects of technical explanation and personal exploration.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express a preference for command line tools over GUIs, sharing their experiences with using the miktex package and pdftex utility.
  • There is a question about the differences between TeX and LaTeX, with one participant stating that LaTeX is built on TeX and is more user-friendly for mathematicians and scientists.
  • One participant suggests using LaTeX commands instead of TeX commands for better results.
  • Another participant shares their successful conversion of a .tex file to a .pdf file after realizing they needed to use LaTeX.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the preference for LaTeX over TeX for ease of use, but there is no consensus on the best practices for using command line tools or the specifics of the utilities.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention a lack of familiarity with documentation and tools, indicating potential limitations in their understanding and usage of the command line for TeX and LaTeX.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in learning about command line usage for TeX and LaTeX, as well as those looking to understand the differences between TeX and LaTeX and their applications in mathematical and scientific documentation.

Jimmy Snyder
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I was feeling sorry for the guy that started that thread, so I took this discussion off to a new thread. I don't know if there is a better forum for it.

matt grime said:
It means learning to love the command line though.

Actually, I was already not using GUIs long before there even were GUIs. I got the miktex package and started using the pdftex utility. I haven't read any documentation so I'm probably not using it to best advantage, but it does work for me.

What is the difference between tex and latex? Should I use pdftex or pfdlatex? Pretty soon I am going to post my results in Snyder-Conway theory on my website and it will be in a pdf file.
 
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jimmysnyder said:
I was feeling sorry for the guy that started that thread, so I took this discussion off to a new thread. I don't know if there is a better forum for it.



Actually, I was already not using GUIs long before there even were GUIs. I got the miktex package and started using the pdftex utility. I haven't read any documentation so I'm probably not using it to best advantage, but it does work for me.

What is the difference between tex and latex? Should I use pdftex or pfdlatex? Pretty soon I am going to post my results in Snyder-Conway theory on my website and it will be in a pdf file.

Essentially, LaTeX is a built on TeX. TeX itself, is quite difficult to use, whereas, LaTeX was written by mathematicians/scientists for mathematicians/scientists. TeX, itself, is also quite old. You should use all the *latex commands, rather than the *tex commands.
 
"I was already not using GUIs long before there even were GUIs."

Weren't we all?
 
HallsofIvy said:
Weren't we all?

I can't speak for everyone. My kids can't even spell CLI.

I got a book on latex and now I see that what I want is latex, not tex. So I converted my sample.tex to lasample.tex and successfully converted it to pdf. Thanks to all for the help.
 

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