Ubuntu® Linux® Bible: Featuring Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Third Edition

Chapter 13. Creating and Publishing Documents

IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Markup Languages: TeX and LaTeX

• Using OpenOffice.org Writer

• Using Scribus

• Other word processors for Linux

Chapter 12, "Working with Text Files on Ubuntu," discussed using text editors on Linux systems. Text editors are fine for creating documents if the document you're creating is a shopping list, a To-Do list, or a ransom note. For more sophisticated documents, most people today expect a word processor, which is an application that enables you to create documents that use multiple fonts and different styles within a font (bold, italic, etc.); create bulleted and numbered lists automatically; and provides basic support for page layout using advanced constructs such as tables, multiple columns, and so on.

This chapter explains how to do various types of word processing on your Ubuntu Linux system, focusing on OpenOffice.org Writer, which is the word processing component of the powerful OpenOffice.org suite of applications that is featured throughout this book. OpenOffice.org is a fantastic suite of office software, and this chapter's discussion of using OpenOffice.org Writer should make even the most dyed-in-the-wool Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or Mac OS X Nisus Writer user feel right at home.

Finally, this chapter discusses desktop publishing on Ubuntu, highlighting the excellent Scribus application. When you have to do serious, hard-core layout in your documents, a word processor is no longer the right tool because ...