Getting started with LaTeX and a couple of Ubuntu questions

victor

victor

Antediluvian as Feck
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I'm writing my bachelor paper this semester, but it's going to be pretty technical and full of mathematical formulas. Also fairly long, about 20+ pages. I'm also sick of the formatting hijinks and complete lack of a decent formula editor in writers such as Microsoft Word and Open Office, so to make writing smooth, I've decided to write the paper in LaTeX.

I'm running the latest build of Ubuntu on my netbook, and I've installed Kate on it. However, I need to be familiarized with the LaTeX language and command list, as I'm completely new to it. Does anyone know good literature and tutorials to get started? I want an actual paper book or leaflet that I can read while writing, I like it better than having to switch between the writing window and PDF files. I'm willing to go up to about $40 for a book or reference.

I need an introductory book that also takes up the subject of writing technical papers.


Also, I didn't want to start a plethora of new threads, so I've got a couple of questions about Ubuntu in general (latest build, 9.10 I think):

I'm trying to install this program in Ubuntu. It's a debian package and it should work, but it doesn't. I'm suspecting it's because it's a 64-bit version and I'm running Ubuntu 32-bit on my computer. It says "amd 64: wrong architecture" when I try to extract it. Here's the file: http://sourceforge.net/projects/xflr5/files/ Is it simply because it's a 64-bit file, and I'm running 32-bit? I haven't been able to find any 32-bit version of the software, which seems odd. I'd hate to have to run it through Wine.

Finally, I've been trying to set up a remote desktop connection between my Win 7 PC at home and my Ubuntu netbook. I'm running UltraVNC on my home PC, and I've set it up according to the guide, but my netbook (using the default Ubuntu VNC remote desktop application) won't detect the server. I'm really trying to locate the problem. I've opened the port in my router, and everything is set up as it should, so what could I be doing wrong? Do I need to change my PC's IP to static?


NB: I was wondering whether to post this in this forum or the General Gaming forum, but since it's not about gaming, I posted it here. Please move if that's wrong, in which case I'm sorry for any inconvenience.
 
Is it simply because it's a 64-bit file, and I'm running 32-bit?
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Yep.

remote desktop Do I need to change my PC's IP to static?
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Troubleshooting remote desktop is a real bitch. Check there's no software firewalls (Windows Firewall), you probably should set a static IP as well as setup port forwarding. I might even change the default port for security purposes.
When I'm having real trouble I'll isolate the issue by RDPing over a LAN, if you can connect over a LAN your issue is with the router configuration.
 
Humm.. i didnt know about this software.

Can it be installed over windows? How does it works? Whats the pros and the cons?

Thanks
 
Latex, huh? :wiggle:

Also: I did my bachelor paper on a typewriter. A typewriter! And I made a first copy of my paper for myself with carbon paper. Carbon paper! Imagine how hard I had to push the keys on that typewriter to make that copy legible! Just imagine. I got blisters on my blisters from typing that paper.

The paper I graduated on was done in Works, which came free with my Pentium 90.

Ah, the times...
 
LaTeX is ideal for mathematical proofs.

This looks like it would be helpful, anyway.

Alternatively, you can try to look up some latex files and try to learn by imitation.
 
Thanks for the link, Sander. As I mentioned, though, it would be nice to have an actual paper book (even if it feels stupid to pay for a guide to something that's free). But I guess I could print out the guide. Do you know of any command list? This one seems to focus mostly on the symbols, not so much on formatting. I'll have a better look, though.


Cimmerian Nights said:
Yep.
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Argh! I've been looking for a 32-bit version like crazy. Odd that they wouldn't make one. I guess I'll have to e-mail the creator.


Troubleshooting remote desktop is a real bitch.
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I've been there before; I tried to setup Jaadu on my iPhone so I could use it to access my home PC. No go there, either. I think it was the router. Makes me wish I knew a network technician.


Zeal said:
Humm.. i didnt know about this software.

Can it be installed over windows? How does it works? Whats the pros and the cons?

Thanks
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What software are you referring to? xflr-5?



alec said:
Latex, huh? :wiggle:
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:roll:
 
Sander said:
LaTeX is ideal for mathematical proofs.
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However, it's not something you can just quickly learn, especially if you're cramped for time.

If you have enough time to learn it however, I can only say you'd be hard pressed to find a better way to do it.

I've tried learning it once myself, but sadly I had to drop it because I wouldn't have had enough time to finish the rest of the work. I still kind of regret that to this day, but I'm too lazy to learn it now since I've really got no use for it in my current line of work.
 
It takes time to get right, and then you have to place it within the document, which is hell.

Speaking of Word formatting, there's this annoying new feature in 2007 (that open office copy-pasted into their latest release), where, when writing a paragraph, Word will spontaneously decide to skip a row every time you try to change rows. This is horribly annoying. I think 60% of the time spent writing something in Word is spent fixing the formatting issues.
 
It's because it's automatically adapted to be on 1.5 times spacing. Since most academic papers want at least double space for papers, here in Canada anyways.

Anyways, once you get enough practice in word it's adequate and most people already know word so it should be easier to learn. I think the shortcut is ctrl+shift+= and that will put the eqation wherever your cursor is.

I found it decently good, for my needs anyways, without having to learn new software.
 
Ehm, yeah, LaTeX is so much better at this shit than Word it's not even funny. LaTeX was made for complicated mathematical equations.

By the way, victor, if you're willing to work on Windows, take a look at MikTex as a LaTeX platform.
 
victor said:
It takes time to get right, and then you have to place it within the document, which is hell.

Speaking of Word formatting, there's this annoying new feature in 2007 (that open office copy-pasted into their latest release), where, when writing a paragraph, Word will spontaneously decide to skip a row every time you try to change rows. This is horribly annoying. I think 60% of the time spent writing something in Word is spent fixing the formatting issues.
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how do you expect to learn LaTeX if you can't even properly use enter & shift+enter or modify paragraph spacing to your liking... :roll:
 
SuAside said:
how do you expect to learn LaTeX if you can't even properly use enter & shift+enter or modify paragraph spacing to your liking... :smug:
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Fixed.

( :smug: )

Also, I second Sander's recommendation for Windows (MiKTeX, that is). I use it in combination with LEd, a free LaTeX editor. But if you also want to use EPS figures (a requirement for DVI output, but not for PDF), prepare for some more pain-in-the-ass installation, because you will need to install GhostScript. To prepare EPS figures, you can either use Adobe's software (I think all Adobe programs support PostScript) or set up a virtual PostScript printer - here are instructions on how to set one up with GhostScript. Note that there are also Adobe virtual PostScript printer drivers, but I had problems getting EPS output with those. Also, to view DVI output, use the Yap viewer that comes with MiKTeX.

One final recommendation: learn to use .bib files + BibTeX for references. Nothing improved my productivity when writing scientific papers like external references + LEd's autocompletion features.
 
SuAside said:
how do you expect to learn LaTeX if you can't even properly use enter & shift+enter or modify paragraph spacing to your liking... :roll:
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By not having deal with silly automatic formatting or learning hidden and obscure Word shortcuts and commands and instead learning a more powerful method of writing text right away. Dumbass.

I'm going to go with PDF, Ratty. And do most of the writing in Ubuntu on my netbook, where I use Kate.
 
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