[texhax] laTEX inquiry

[William Adams]

On Dec 27, 2012, at 12:25 AM, Thomas Schneider wrote:

>> I am attempting to write my first paper using LATEX (on ubuntu), but I
>> have no clue what I am doing!
>> First, how do I know if I successfully downloaded laTEX?
>> Secondly, do i need a compiler or something?
>> I only know how to use open office as a text document, how , or can I
>> open upa new window to enter latex code in?
>> Any and all help is needed!

While I agree w/ everything Tom wrote, I believe you might be more comfortable w/ a graphical front end for LaTeX, LyX:

http://www.lyx.org

There's specific mention of Ubuntu at:

http://www.lyx.org/Download

so it should be straight-forward to get running.

Once you have LyX installed it has very good documentation, including a bit on the distinction between TeX (the compiler), LaTeX (the pre-processor / macro package / markup standard) and the front-end (which can be a text editor w/ a button to typeset the file or a visual front-end like LyX).

William

-- 
William Adams
senior graphic designer
Fry Communications
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.