-Public release of LyX version 1.1.2
-===================================
+Public release of LyX version 1.6.0 (beta 4)
+=============================================
-What is LyX?
-------------
+We are pleased to announce the fourth beta release of LyX 1.6.0.
-LyX is an advanced open-source "document processor". Unlike standard
-word processors, LyX encourages writing based on the structure of your
-documents, not their appearance, It lets you concentrate on writing,
-leaving details of visual layout to the software.
+LyX 1.6.0 will be the culmination of 9 months of hard work since the
+release of the LyX 1.5 series. We sincerely hope you will enjoy the
+result.
-With the familiar face of a WISYWIG word processor, LyX produces high
-quality, professional output -- using LaTeX, an industrial
-strength typesetting engine. No knowledge of LaTeX is required to
-use LyX; however, there is also a "TeX mode" which allows you to enter
-plain LaTeX commands.
+As usual with a major release, a lot of work that is not directly
+visible has taken place. The core of LyX has seen more cleanups and
+some of the new features are the direct results of this work.
-All in all, LyX is a complete environment for writing documents. It has
-superior support for scientific writing, but works well for any kind of
-document.
+The file RELEASE-NOTES lists some known issues with this release
+compared to the current stable release (LyX 1.5.5). An updated list of
+issues might later be found at http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/ReleaseNotes
-Read more about LyX (including screen shots) at:
- http://www.lyx.org/
+In case you are wondering what LyX is, here is what
+http://www.lyx.org/ has to say on the subject:
-What can LyX do?
-----------------
+ LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to writing
+ based on the structure of your documents, not their appearance. It
+ is released under a Free Software / Open Source license.
-A very incomplete feature list:
+ LyX is for people that write and want their writing to look great,
+ right out of the box. No more endless tinkering with formatting
+ details, 'finger painting' font attributes or futzing around with page
+ boundaries. You just write. In the background, Prof. Knuth's legendary
+ TeX typesetting engine makes you look good.
-- "standard" word processing: fonts, cut & paste, infinite undo...
-- footnotes, citations, cross-referencing, faxes, spellchecking
-- almost any math expression (with a simple, but powerfull interface)
-- automatic, multilevel outline support (enumerated or bullets)
-- tables and embedded postscript figures support
-- import LaTeX or ASCII
-- export LaTeX, ASCII, DVI, PostScript, LinuxDoc-SGML, DocBook-SGML
-- fair support for non-English documents and/or menus
-- extensive documentation, including a tutorial
-- version control using RCS
+ On screen, LyX looks like any word processor; its printed output -- or
+ richly cross-referenced PDF, just as readily produced -- looks like
+ nothing else. Gone are the days of industrially bland .docs, all
+ looking similarly not-quite-right, yet coming out unpredictably
+ different on different printer drivers. Gone are the crashes 'eating'
+ your dissertation the evening before going to press.
-How stable is LyX?
-------------------
+ LyX is stable and fully featured. It is a multi-platform, fully
+ internationalized application running natively on Unix/Linux and the
+ Macintosh and modern Windows platforms.
-This release is considered stable, but as with any software, you should
-take appropriate back-up steps in a production environment.
+You can download LyX 1.6.0alpha2 here (the .bz2 are compressed with bzip2,
+which yields smaller files):
-Where can I get it?
--------------------
+ ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/lyx/devel/lyx-1.6.0alpha2.tar.gz
+ ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/lyx/devel/lyx-1.6.0alpha2.tar.bz2
-LyX is distributed under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL), which
-means that you can not only use it freely, but also modify and
-redistribute it, provided that you include the source of the program.
+Note that due to the amount of change, no patch is provided to upgrade
+from version 1.5.5.
-The main LyX site is
+Prebuilt binaries (rpms for linux distributions, Mac OS X and Windows
+installers) should soon be available at
+ ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/bin/1.6.0alpha2/
- ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/
+If you find what you think is a bug in LyX 1.6.0alpha2, you may either
+e-mail the LyX developers' mailing list (lyx-devel at lists.lyx.org), or open
+a bug report at http://bugzilla.lyx.org
-with mirrors at
+If you're having trouble using the new version of LyX, or have a question,
+first check out http://www.lyx.org/help/. If you can't find the answer there,
+e-mail the LyX users' list (lyx-users at lists.lyx.org).
- ftp://alpha.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/lyx
- ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/lyx/
- ftp://ftp.sdsc.edu/pub/other/lyx/
- ftp://ftp.fciencias.unam.mx/pub/Lyx/
- ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/LyX/
-
-The source code package is available at:
-
- ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/stable/lyx-1.0.4.tar.gz
- ftp://ftp.devel.lyx.org/pub/lyx/lyx-1.0.4.tar.gz
-
-and at the mirrors listed above.
-
-You need to have XForms version 0.81, 0.86 or 0.88 to compile your own
-version. Version 0.88 is highly recomended. LyX should also compile
-with 0.89.
-
-Ready-to-run precompiled binaries for various platforms are available at:
-
- ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/bin/1.0.4/
-
-Binaries for i386-Linux are also available at your local sunsite mirror:
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/editors/lyx-1.0.4-bin.tar.gz
-
-Credits
--------
-
-The LyX Team is composed of volunteers from around the world. Many, many
-people have helped make the 1.0 release possible, including:
-
- Lars Gullik Bjoennes, Alejandro Aguilar Sierra, Asger Alstrup,
- Jean-Marc Lasgouttes, Juergen Vigna, John P. Weiss, Bernhard Iselborn,
- Andre Spiegel, Allan Rae, Henner Zeller, Robert van der Kamp,
- David L. Johnson, Amir Karger, Joacim Persson, Peter Suetterlin,
- SMiyata, Alkis Polyzotis, ...
-
-Special thanks should go to Matthias Ettrich who started it all.
+Enjoy!
-Feedback
---------
+The LyX team.
-Please direct any comments or questions to the appropriate mailing list as
-described on the LyX homepage (http://www.lyx.org/).
-Enjoy!
+What's new in version 1.6.0beta4?
+----------------------------
-The LyX Team
+The new features in LyX 1.6 are detailed in
+http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/NewInLyX16