3 LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to
4 writing based on the structure of your documents, not their
5 appearance. It is released under a Free Software / Open Source
8 LyX is for people that write and want their writing to look great,
9 right out of the box. No more endless tinkering with formatting
10 details, 'finger painting' font attributes or futzing around with
11 page boundaries. You just write. In the background, Prof. Knuth's
12 legendary TeX typesetting engine makes you look good.
14 On screen, LyX looks like any word processor; its printed output
15 -- or richly cross-referenced PDF, just as readily produced --
16 looks like nothing else. Gone are the days of industrially bland
17 .docs, all looking similarly not-quite-right, yet coming out
18 unpredictably different on different printer drivers. Gone are the
19 crashes 'eating' your dissertation the evening before going to
22 LyX is stable and fully featured. It is a multi-platform, fully
23 internationalized application running natively on Unix/Linux and
24 the Macintosh and modern Windows platforms.
26 What do I need to run LyX?
29 * a Unix-like system (including Windows with cygwin)
31 * Mac OS 10.2 or newer
33 A decent LaTeX2e installation (e.g. teTeX for unix) not older
35 Python 2.3 or later to convert old LyX files and for helper scripts
37 How does the LyX version scheme work?
39 LyX uses a continuous numbering scheme in which odd or
40 even numbering is not significant. Instead a number '1.x.y'
41 indicates stable release '1.x', fix level 'y'. Prereleases
42 are labeled with a "pre" suffix. Thus there are three possible
45 lyx-1.4.0.tar.gz -- stable release
46 lyx-1.4.5.tar.gz -- fifth maintenance release of the
48 lyx-1.4.0pre1.tar.gz -- potentially unstable test release
50 The maintenance releases are designed primarily to fix bugs. The
51 goal here is not to have parallel development as for the linux
52 kernel (the team is too small to afford that), but rather to
53 include all the simple (so that the maintenance burden on us
54 is not too high) and safe (so that system administrators can
55 install them without fear) bug fixes. Experience shows that
56 these releases will contain a few new features, and that the
57 bulk of the patches will be documentation updates.
59 If you get the source from Subversion, the version string will
62 1.4.1svn -- this is the stable branch on which maintenance
63 release 1.4.1 will eventually be tagged.
64 1.5.0svn -- this is the main branch on which stable
65 release 1.5.0 will eventually be tagged.
71 How do I upgrade from an earlier LyX version?
73 Read the file UPGRADING for info on this subject.
75 What do I need to compile LyX from the source distribution?
77 * A good C++ compiler. Development is being done mainly with
78 gcc/g++, but some others work also. As of LyX 1.4.0, you need at
81 * The Qt library, version 3.0 or newer.
83 Read the file "INSTALL" for more information on compiling.
85 Okay, I've installed LyX. What now?
87 Once you've installed it, and everything looks fine, go read
88 the "Introduction" item under the Help menu. You should follow
89 the instructions there, which tell you to read (or at least skim)
90 the Tutorial. After that, you should also read "Help>LaTeX
91 configuration" which provides info on your LaTeX configuration
92 as LyX sees it. You might be missing a package or two that you'd
95 User-level configuration is possible via the Tools>Preferences menu.
97 Does LyX have support for non-English speakers/writers/readers?
99 Yes. LyX supports writing in many languages, including
100 right-to-left languages like Arabic or Hebrew. There is a port
101 of LyX named CJK-LyX which adds support for Chinese, Korean
102 and Japanese (http://cellular.phys.pusan.ac.kr/cjk.html)
104 Menus and error messages have been translated to 17 languages.
105 For the status of the different translations, see
106 http://www.lyx.org/devel/i18n.php
108 Keymaps can ease typing in many languages.
110 Internet resources of relevance to LyX
112 The LyX homepage contains valuable information about LyX and the
113 various LyX mailing lists, as well as links to mirrors and other
114 LyX homepages around the world:
117 The LyX Wiki is the place where users can share information on
118 setting up and using LyX.
121 The main LyX archive site:
122 ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/
124 The LyX Development page has information about the development
125 effort. LyX is under Subversion control, so you can get the very
126 latest sources from there at any time.
127 http://www.lyx.org/devel
128 ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/lyx/
130 How do I submit a bug report?
132 If possible, read the Introduction found under the Help menu in LyX.
133 You'll find detailed info on submitting bug reports there.
135 If you can't do that, send details to the LyX Developers' mailing
136 list, or use the LyX bug tracker at http://bugzilla.lyx.org/.
137 Don't forget to mention which version you are having problems with!
139 How can I participate in the development of LyX?
141 Any help with the development of LyX is greatly appreciated ---
142 after all, LyX wouldn't be what it is today without the help
143 of volunteers. We need your help!
145 If you want to work on LyX, you should contact the developer's
146 mailing list for discussion on how to do your stuff. LyX is being
147 cleaned up, and therefore it's important to follow some rules.
148 Read about those rules in development/Code_rules/.
150 If you don't know C++, there are many other ways to
151 contribute. Write documentation. Help to internationalize LyX
152 by translating documentation or menus/error messages, or by
153 writing a new keymap. Write a new textclass. Find bugs (but
154 please read the list of known bugs first). Contribute money.
155 Or just offer feature suggestions (but please read the online
158 Thank you for trying LyX. We appreciate your feedback in the mailing