You guys should also check out Typst https://typst.app/. It is a lot easier than LaTeX even though not as powerful. It has meaningful error messages making the debugging a lot more user friendly.

[–] nice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 6 months ago

I had been using LaTeX at work and decided to give Typst a try:

I installed the compiler and vscode extensions to run Typst natively.

Setting up my orgs template in Typst was significantly easier then LaTeX and took about 20% less lines of code.

I like the more modern, practical syntax for writing docs.

It's still a relatively young project though, so I found a few rough edges:

Paragraph indentation rules for my language weren't available: managed to find a workaround though
Only allows use of relative paths for images, imports etc: apparently for security reasons, forces me to have template logo in almost every folder
Localized dates: Typst can't do it
No \graphicspath like command: LaTeX will search for an image by filename in each specified folder, in order. Typst has no equivalent command (yet)

Overall I was positively impressed, but went back to LaTeX mostly because of the last two points. Curious to see how Typst will be in a few years!

[–] jonno@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why can’t I find any information about pricing on that page?

[–] moritz@l.deltaa.xyz 1 points 6 months ago

Because it's free for the time being.

[–] Retiring@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Under every single LaTeX themed post there is someone suggesting typst. Why use something open, if you can use something proprietary? /s

[–] filister@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The compiler is open source: https://github.com/typst/typst

And maybe because LaTeX is a pain to work and debug? So please don't tell me that you have never been frustrated with it.

[–] Retiring@lemmy.ml -1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

What are you using it for? Did you publish anything written in typst? Edit: this is a genuine question.

[–] moritz@l.deltaa.xyz 1 points 6 months ago

The Typst compiler is available under the Apache License 2.0.

The web app at https://typst.app is proprietary but also completely optional. You can use Typst with only a text editor supporting the LSP (VSCodium, Kate, Atom, ...), typst-lsp (Apache-2.0 OR MIT) and the Typst compiler.