[HN Gopher] How to Reproduce This Book with LaTeX
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       How to Reproduce This Book with LaTeX
        
       Author : nill0
       Score  : 88 points
       Date   : 2025-12-19 14:48 UTC (7 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | throwfaraway135 wrote:
       | typst is so much nicer than latex, although unfortunately a lot
       | of universities/publishers still accept only latex.
        
       | codegladiator wrote:
       | Is this LaTeX Quine ?
        
       | Kwpolska wrote:
       | Trusting LaTeX to automatically distribute tables and figures
       | produces not-very-readable documents with tables and figures
       | interrupting content (e.g. page 12).
       | 
       | > The default LATEX compiler in both cases will likely be
       | pdfLaTeX, and to make things smooth, we will stick with that.
       | However, note that there are the more powerful XeLaTeX and
       | LuaLaTeX, which can be a suitable choice for advanced users.
       | 
       | > XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX As a remark, if the document will be
       | mainly in Chinese/Japanese/Korean or any other non-Latin language
       | in general, then it may be more beneficial to just switch to the
       | XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX compiler since they directly support UTF-8
       | encoded text. However, we will keep ourselves to the default
       | pdfLaTeX compiler to avoid complications.
       | 
       | This is just FUD. XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX do not introduce any
       | "complications" and are not only for "advanced users". Switching
       | is easy, and programs without any Unicode support should simply
       | not be used these days.
        
         | gucci-on-fleek wrote:
         | > This is just FUD. XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX do not introduce any
         | "complications" and are not only for "advanced users".
         | 
         | I agree that LuaLaTeX is the only sensible recommendation for
         | beginners, and is actually easier to use in most cases, but
         | there can occasionally be some complications with old
         | packages/classes/preambles that were written with pdfLaTeX (or
         | even classical DVI LaTeX) in mind. This is fairly rare, and
         | usually means that the package/preamble is just broken, but
         | hearing that isn't very useful for users who just want to fix
         | their broken documents.
        
         | zvr wrote:
         | > This is just FUD. XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX do not introduce any
         | "complications"
         | 
         | Well, there are still some packages that work flawlessly with
         | pdfLaTeX, but not completely with LuaLaTeX or XeLaTeX ---
         | microtype is the canonical example.
        
         | ComputerGuru wrote:
         | I don't get why XeLaTeX didn't automatically obviate all the
         | others by now to begin with, at least for any greenfield
         | applications.
         | 
         | (I use tectonic now but had been using XeLaTeX for more than a
         | decade before.)
        
         | abdullahkhalids wrote:
         | > Trusting LaTeX to automatically distribute tables and figures
         | produces not-very-readable documents with tables and figures
         | interrupting content (e.g. page 12).
         | 
         | The positioning of the table on page 12 is completely inline
         | with how tables/figures are placed in books and academic
         | figures. The rule is that all displayed tables/figures should
         | either be placed at the top or bottom of a page. Ideally, they
         | should be placed on the same page as they are first mentioned
         | in the text, but if this is not possible, it is acceptable to
         | push them to subsequent pages.
         | 
         | Interestingly, the author did manually specify `[ht!]` options
         | for the table, and not for some other tables further in the
         | chapter.
        
       | begueradj wrote:
       | So many .sty (but not only) files to download elsewhere.
       | 
       | Maybe it's better to include them in the repository itself.
       | 
       | Once all the files downloaded, I run into several compiling
       | errors.
        
       | vitalnodo wrote:
       | As an alternative to Overleaf, I found Crixet to be quite useful.
       | It appears to be based on WASM and has fewer usage restrictions.
        
         | nticompass wrote:
         | I went to give Crixet a try, and there was a AI assistant in
         | the editor. I looked in the settings to turn it off and the
         | setting to do so said "I prefer my ignorance handcrafted,
         | organic, and 100% human-made."
         | 
         | :)
        
       | __mharrison__ wrote:
       | Would have loved this books years ago ... Now I'm only interested
       | if s/latex/typst
        
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       (page generated 2025-12-26 23:01 UTC)