[Framers] Why so many of us feel the way we do about Adobe

[Syed Zaeem Hosain]

Well ... I don't bash FrameMaker because of its capabilities, but I do bash them for the upgrade pricing changes over the years.

For me to see the benefits of stability that Reng Winfried says is now available (since FM 7), would require paying for a full FM license - eek!

Of course, I do not like subscription models ... this last evolution guarantees that I will not update from FM 12. When that stops working for whatever reason, *good*! I am not using it much anymore anyway ...



To answer your other question, yes, I have an alternative ... works "for my purposes". I emphasize "for my purposes" since it is not for everybody, of course!

My current flow is LaTeX using the TeXStudio editor. 

Not WYSISYG, but ... one click gets me PDF output in a window on the side. *And*, I can click on the PDF, and TeXstudio opens the *specific* file with the LaTeX source, and puts my cursor right where I need it!

Consistent output? Yes. Many people have provided all the necessary add-ons for just about any standardized technical format that you might ever want.

Large books? Yes. No issues with multiple-hundred-page documents for me. I keep my chapters and re-usable text paragraphs in separate source files, so they can be re-used in other "books" too.

Variables? Of course! Defined at the top level or wherever, and these can be over-ridden in a given source file for local use. 

Equations? Beautiful! but you do have to spend a tiny amount of time learning how. After that curve (it is not tough), LaTeX and TeX have better equation output than *any* other tool I have ever seen ... for technical documents, this is perfect!

Tables? Yes. But you do have to get used to doing them without WYSIWYG ... the rapid PDF generation is what makes it work for me!

Help files? I do not know. I have not tried creating these from LaTeX at all (since I don't need them), but I would be surprised if this is difficult to make happen!

And, best of all, the price is right: my current flow is FREE ... 😊

Z

P.S. My latest infuriating issue is Acrobat Pro. Which seems to want to check its license status with Adobe far too often, does not "get through" to whatever system it is trying to reach, and stops working till I restart my computer or reboot my router or stop using it for a while! 

This is helping me move to FlexiPDF faster ... frankly, the next time that Acrobat Pro stops, it will no longer be the default tool selected in Windows for PDF files.

-----Original Message-----
From: Framers [mailto:framers-bounces+syed.hosain=aeris.net at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Shmuel Wolfson
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 2:00 AM
To: Framers List <framers at lists.frameusers.com>
Subject: Re: [Framers] Why so many of us feel the way we do about Adobe

I don't know why everyone likes bashing FrameMaker.

Is there anything else that:
• Is suitable for long books.
• Gives you PDF output as is appears while you are working (WYSIWYG).
• Can be converted to online help, (even if it requires buying an extra program).

FM happens to have online help conversion built-in, but I could live without that if that was another decent authoring tool that worked together with another decently priced conversion tool.

Word comes close to checking all those boxes, but has problems with large files and other issues.

Someone mention another page layout program recently, but I forgot what it was. Maybe it was Xara Page & Layout Designer. But can it do online help at all?

Please post if you know of another authoring tool that is excellent for PDFs and can be used for online help.

My biggest gripe with FM is the price, but you know what, you really don't need to buy every new version that comes out. Do you buy every new smartphone that comes out, or wait until you need a new phone? Anyone under 20 is excluded from answering that question :)

--
Shmuel Wolfson
Technical Writer
058-763-7133