On Sunday 30 March 2003 14:11, Thomas E. Beasley, Jr. wrote:
However, in my work, I do a lot of desktop publishing and high-in graphics work. Has anyone created a Linux desktop program? When I do my work, I have to fire up my old Windows 98 box to do it. I'd like to be able to do my work in Linux. Is there a Linux solution to this predicament other than Win4Lin?
You didn't name your DTP weapon-of-choice on Windows. If you are using something like Pagemaker or Quark or InDesign, then you are doing a certain type of work and need certain features. You need something that produces the looks that you want, but you have minimal need for powerful organizational tools for dealing with large, complex documents. If you are using something like FrameMaker or Ventura, then you are probably writing (or publishing somebody else's) large, complex technical documents. I'm in this camp. I rejected KWord a year ago, though the new developments sound interesting. OpenOffice is the closest I've seen, though it has a number of gaps that are painful if you've been using a lot of the productivity features of (say) FrameMaker. Still, it is a good workhorse, depending on the depths of your pickiness. If you require ultimate typographic control, then you may need to go for a TeX-related, non-WYSIWYG system. If you just need to "make it look reasonably good", but are mainly concerned that the layout be reliably repeatable, the generated lists be easy-to-make and complete, the pagination and numbering be transparent yet adaptable, the table features easy to use and repeatable, etc., then OOo is close. As an employment-critical workhorse, avoid anything that says it's alpha or early beta. Good luck, and please report back if you find something that you like. /kevin