I was introduced to LaTeX via LyX as a freshman and found the interface very off-putting and confusing and forgot about the whole thing for years. When I found out I could just type a text file instead, run a few commands, and get the same gorgeous result, it was a revelation and I never went back to OpenOffice.
Probably not news to anyone here, but learning to use a good text editor like vim or emacs is hugely useful and I wish I hadn’t waited so long to do it. Git for version control is pretty great too.
For me it was the exact opposite. I’d been using LaTeX for years before I discovered LyX. I can’t imagine writing in raw LaTeX anymore. Especially, live math preview has become indispensable for me, as well as ‘smart’ label handling and intelligent handling of documents composed of multiple independent files (like chapters in a book).
I was introduced to LaTeX via LyX as a freshman and found the interface very off-putting and confusing and forgot about the whole thing for years. When I found out I could just type a text file instead, run a few commands, and get the same gorgeous result, it was a revelation and I never went back to OpenOffice.
Probably not news to anyone here, but learning to use a good text editor like vim or emacs is hugely useful and I wish I hadn’t waited so long to do it. Git for version control is pretty great too.
For me it was the exact opposite. I’d been using LaTeX for years before I discovered LyX. I can’t imagine writing in raw LaTeX anymore. Especially, live math preview has become indispensable for me, as well as ‘smart’ label handling and intelligent handling of documents composed of multiple independent files (like chapters in a book).