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I switched from windows to linux as my main OS a little while back. Currently, I run only linux, but I have previously run a dual boot setup with windows 7. That was just a speedbump.

Now, if I want to update anything I type the following in the command line:

sudo apt-get udpdate sudo apt-get upgrade

... And that is all. Unless you meant some other kind of pain and suffering?


I was referring to the pleasure (in the utilitarian sense) of apt-get being offset by the pain of not having MacOS-specific software and features. I am a Linux user myself, but recognize that not everyone's computing needs are met by it (just as my needs are not met by Windows or MacOS).


So I'm on Linux - specifically Debian. Where do I start with LaTeX? Do I have to use a specially created editor such as Lyx?


No, you don't need any special editor. In fact, I wouldn't recommend using one, as all the special editors are really just a crutch. It's much better to learn how to program the underlying LaTeX itself, rather than rely on some high-level tool to do it for you. (just my opinion here)

There are an absolute glut of LaTeX tutorials out there to get you started. Here's one:

http://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/index.html

But there are many, many others. Some are particularly good for people in certain specialties. For instance, here's an excellent LaTeX resource for logicians:

http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/teaching_staff/Smith/logicmatters/...


Ha. I remember Smith being ridiculously adamant about everybody using LaTeX for their essays and logic stuff...


You can use a wysiwyg-ish editor like LyX or TeXmacs, but eventually, you'll likely want formatting it doesn't make trivial, particularly for something like a resume.

If you're comfortable with Vim or Emacs, both of them have good LaTeX support. The AucTeX package for Emacs is particularly excellent (it needs to be installed separately, but Debian packages it).

There are also editors best described as "LaTeX IDEs". They provide a syntax-highlighting editor and have particular support for running the LaTeX processing toolchain, parsing error messages and warnings (a nontrivial proposition), and sometimes provide support for generating LaTeX code snippets like table layouts. One such package is Texmaker, a Qt-based IDE with a look-and-feel somewhat like Qt Creator.


gedit has a LaTeX plugin which is what I use.

http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=gedit-latex-plugi...


I disagree with your opinion of the liberal arts, but I will certainly agree that getting practice writing unit tests for your code on homework assignments will be a boon in the long run.


The book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! sounds like it would be a great read for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Char...

As far as mailing lists go, I also would be interested in this.


I've read it, and love it! One of my favorites, I reread it every so often solely because Feynman is so awesome :)


OO in perl is a little bit weird if you aren't used to it.


Everything in Perl is deliciously weird.


That's almost as bad as telling a depressed person that they are overreacting and to just "cheer up". Incredibly stupid.


That's not what I meant. Just take it as face value. I'm saying that 1) these pathologies are real 2) they're not unique to any one culture 3) there are powerful forces that keep them from our everyday consciousness.

Thanks for revealing your biases so cheaply and easily.


I still don't have access. I emailed someone, got no response, so I gave up on it.


hey :-) Send an email to Daniel (daniel@mojang.com) and he should sort you out. If not send me an email (sam@redstonewire.com) and when he's next online I'll poke him into helping you out.


Is anyone still using this in a production environment? I don't think I've ever seen a language like this one before.


Do you consider boot ROMs production environments?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Firmware


FreeBSD's boot loader uses a dialect of forth.

Forth makes MUCH more sense in an embedded context, IMHO.


>Forth makes MUCH more sense in an embedded context, IMHO.

Forth is just unbeatable in an embedded context. Minimal porting of a few basic words and you're up and running with fully functional environment you can adjust on-the-fly.


If you think the United States "try to act ultimately for good and that there be minimal self-enrichment", then I am just going to have to frown.

American foreign policy has a very rich history of being very abusive to other countries when their agenda is at odds with ours. The irony of us going after Saddam Hussein recently was thick enough to cut with a knife, after all, we did in fact forcefully put him into power.

I welcome the release of the diplomatic wires personally, because right now all we get is a facade of fake transparency. We only know what they want us to know after all.


What is really the saddest thing, is that wikileaks is absolutely the only oversight/resistance that we have towards abusive American foreign policy, or abusive policy in general around the globe.

The average citizen has absolutely no say in anything.


Wow, something from coding horror where he isn't trying to sell us something?


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