FW: [sdiy] A book about analogue synthesizer circuits?

[Richard Wentk]

At 11:42 06/04/2003 +0100, Andy Main wrote:
>Coming from a scientific journal writing background, I think writing in
>LaTeX is good for conversion into pdf etc (LyX has already been
>mentioned).  In which case wouldn't having graphics stored in eps format
>be best?

I personally don't want to have to spend a few days learning a new tool 
just so I can contribute something. I can just about stretch things as far 
as PDFs although I don't like those for web use because they're too damn 
slow for those of us who still use dial-up.

Otherwise if you include a standard 72dpi raster image of your circuits or 
your equations that's all anyone is ever going to need. Infinite vector 
scalability is a non-issue for this kind of application. (Unless someone is 
planning to produce a billboard sized version of the book.)

So... why not simply produce an HTML page for online use and a PDF for 
printing, both using 72dpi or perhaps 300dpi for very high res 
requirements, and leave it at that? If people want to use LaTeX they can do 
so, but likewise if they want to use Windows Notepad they should be able to 
do that too. As long as the results end up as HTML and/or PDFs so they can 
be read and printed, that's all that matters. Bottom line is people should 
use whatever tools they're most comfortable with.

And yes, I absolutely agree with the suggestion that it should include 
multiple points of view from multiple authors aimed at people with multiple 
interests and skill levels. The way I see it anyone should be able to 
contribute anything, whether they have a kit for sale or want to speculate 
about some wild and fun new DSP technique they've just invented.

And I still think there should be a space for questions (I suppose this 
list would do for that) and also for MP3s of audio samples.

Richard (Who writes books and other stuff for a living)