[scribus] Is Scribus of No Practical Use to Engineers, Scientists and Mathematicians?

[Julian Robbins]

Hello Prof Coates

I felt it was worth tackling your problems on another level. So far no
-one has said that they do use Scribus for Engineering, Science and Maths.

Well, I'm sure there's lots of us, but at the company I work for just
three hours drive south of you (ish), we do !!

We are a company of 33 who design and manufacture specialist microwave
antenna systems. Our company has many talented engineers, scientists and
mathematicians some of whom use Scribus. We have created many datasheets
and adverts, poster presentations, and many other artworks over the last
5 years with Scribus, which you can find on our website www.q-par.com
One the best examples of how you can use Scribus is here :-
http://www.q-par.com/corporate/marketing/company-profile.pdf There's not
a huge amount of maths but it gives an idea

Although Latex may suit you better, and is universally understood as the
language for mathematicians and scientists, it is not a simple
application to pick up though very powerful.

Scribus is an excellent halfway house. I have worked on adverts,
datasheets and even a recent poster presentation on materials research
at the highest level that I used Scribus for. The maths in there was
created in Latex, but rendered superbly in Scribus.

Can I mention that there is a bug (with a workaround),
http://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=8256 regarding Latex frames and
rendering in the Linux version of 1.3.5. that I have helped with. This
may or may not be a problem you are also encountering & not helping you.
Don't forget that 1.3.5.1 is not the stable generally used version of
Scribus. The development notation is to fix issues like this where
Scribus in the main works well, but newer features introduced in 1.3.5
may still need some refining and test. Use of renderframes for Latex is
one of them.

We have 5 staff who regularly use Scribus here, and generally its well
received and liked.

Almost lastly, please also use your local LUG, Linux User Group. There
is one in North Wales I know of as a friend helps run it. Here in
Herefordshire, our LUG www.hlug.org.uk has put on workshops showing how
to use Scribus. Most LUG's are a source of free local help, that
shouldnt be missed.

So Scribus can support you with your aims, and perhaps not as fully
rounded as InDesign etc yet, its sense of community and help especially
on this mailing list, make it a tool I always reach for.

-- 
Kind regards

Julian Robbins
Applications Engineer

Q-par Angus Ltd

Barons Cross Laboratories
Leominster
Herefordshire HR6 8RS
UK

Web www.q-par.com
>
> Professor Rodney Coates, Ph.D., FIEEE
> Seiche Ltd.
> Swallow Court
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>
> rcoates at seiche.com
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>