Compositor 0.3 for Windows
Mood
calm
Sentiment
mixed
Category
other
Key topics
The Compositor app, a WYSIWYG LaTeX editor originally for Mac, has been ported to Windows, sparking discussion about its usefulness and potential Linux port.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Moderate engagementFirst comment
3d
Peak period
8
Day 4
Avg / period
8
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 24, 2025 at 11:38 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 27, 2025 at 2:51 PM EDT
3d after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
8 comments in Day 4
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 27, 2025 at 8:16 PM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
If you want to do something resembling 'WYSIWYG´ LaTeX editing on Linux there's LyX [1] which I've been using for decades starting with the Xforms version. LyX is not really 'WYSIWYG' as that is not really what LaTeX is meant for. Here's an excerpt from the project site which describes the difference:
LyX presents the user with the familiar face of a WYSIWYG word processor. However, users familiar with Microsoft Word or WordPerfect may be perplexed by certain basic LyX behaviour. For example, repeatedly hitting the space bar has no effect! This is by design: LyX puts in the proper spacing for you, intelligently.
Think of LyX as the first WYSIWYM word processor: What You See Is What You Mean. All the common formatting intelligence of LaTeX is presented to the user through visual controls, like a table-of-contents window acting as an outline browser, "live" reference links (to figure and table captions, sections, pages and literature citations), automatic multilevel section and list numbering, and more. You tell LyX how to treat particular words and lines in your document: e.g., this is standard text, this is a Section title, this is a footnote, this is a caption beneath an inserted graphic. As you click your selections, the WYSIWYM interface gives you clean, straightforward "visual clues" (actually, very WYSIWYG-like).
Looks like I might like the UI.
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.