======= Date Modified 11 29 2009 14:29:35 =======
======= Date Modified 11 23 2009 14:23:28 =======
Hi,

I’m a Ph D student (first 6 months) and I’ve been working pretty well with my supervisor and my team group.. up to now.

I’m writing a publication and serious difficulties have started to come out because of incompatibility. I use Latex to write publications and they use Word and EndNote. I can not use them because Latex is far a way better for this purpose than the aforementioned, and it’s free, the others are not. Also, I’m a mac user, they are PC, therefore I use freeware software for plotting, they use Originlab. I tried to convinced them to try what I use, but it was useless.

I was happy with the “think differently” slogan but now I’m worry because paper production efficiency has been slowed down because of this issue. Yesterday I almost cried because I realized that my team and the publications are more important for me than the tools I use, so I'd better speak my team language. But yet I love latex and macs (I hate Word and PCs).

What do you suggest I do? Thanks a lot.
:-(

I know you are in your first six months, and I am a haggard old end-of-the-third-year-and-bitter PhD student; but really, if this is the biggest problem you have then I really wouldn't worry. Find another Mac user with Word and borrow it off them (you get three codes).

just print it out and give them a hard copy

Yes, go down the printed out hard copy route. If that does not work because people want to edit your text in word with track changes, maybe maybe (?) you have to reconsider your tools and use what the others are using.. It can be really annoying when people use different tools, but there are often ways around this... I also know people who swear by latex and they have stuck it for that reason, even if gets a bit more complicated when dealing with non-latex users...

I'm with Sleepyhead.

LaTeX is superior in many ways, but it isn't hassle free and there are arguments in favour of all mainstream options. That's not really the point though. The point is that you have to accept that in any working environment, sometimes there will be the need to compromise. In this case it may be just that for collaborative work you have to go with the majority. If you don't turn this into a big drama then it may be easier over time to find a mutually agreeable way of working. But for now, you may just have to go with the flow.

.PDF files - get into the habit of converting finished files into one common format. If they want to edit these files, well you can get an editor pretty easy. Supervisor and meself were the other way about - he wanted me to use LaTeX but I couldn't be ar$ed. PrimoPDF is a good convertor and most recent editions of Adobe allow editing.

The “hard copy” solution didn't work. I did like that and after the third corrected paper draft I went into desperation and I said: “The paper was is too difficult for me (especially because of my lack of experience in publishing)” and he replied “well.. If I could modify the electronic version...”. That was when I got in shock.

I've already made a decision after reading your replies. I love very much this team group and my co-workers (a postdoc word user is also co-working with me in the paper) and the way the work and their publishing rate. I didn't got on this PhD business to “work differently” but to learn how to publish. So I can only say “thank God it exists Word and EndNote for Mac” (for the time being). I've already said to my supervisor that further modifications on the paper I would do them in Word and EndNote and he kindly replied to me “Thanks. Sorry but I’m too old to learn new software” (He recognizes the superiority of Latex). So I will have to wait until he dies... or until I become Boss... to come back to Latex.

Thanks everybody for their replies.

ill have to say this is a very strange thing to be getting upset about. If this is the least of your worries then you have no real problems to worry about ( with your PhD or course)

If you really don't want to use Word on your Mac there are free options like OpenOffice and NeoOffice which will produce compatible files. My husband used Latex throughout his PhD. I stick with Word on my Mac.

Well I am upset, because everything else goes wonderful: I couldn't ask more attention from my supervisor, even though all my coworkers are from different nationalities, we help each other a lot (The World should be like that), and communications and paper production goes pretty well.

But for some of us that we are used to work with this beautiful things for mac (I’ll stop advertising)... well, going back to word, windows (because Origin), etc. It’s sad :-( ... I don’t know if I’m dramatizing. Does anyone ever was in a similar situation than me?

No offence dear, but your pet dying is sad. Not getting the job you want is sad. Splitting with a partner is sad. You do *not* have a problem, thus no right to be sad.

Yes you are over-dramatising. Madly. Please get a grip!

Here here! Dear god, if this was my only problem...... how happy I would be!!!!!!!

No offense, but for your comments in other threads you seem to have had always a cloudy sky during your Ph D, probably for not paying attention in details like this. But, o.k. in fact I’m not sad, I’m very happy to see that people have replied this and they have helped me to make my mind about this issue.

Thanks anyway.

My pet died this morning, I'd had him as my best friend for 15 years and I'm very sad, so therefore less able to be 'nice' than I normally am so please excuse me for being rather more brusque than possibly necessary.

For heaven's sake, its a damned word processing package, its NOT the end of the world, its NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING - death, pain, illness, failing your viva etc etc - these are all really rough things - being asked to use the darned Word package so that your work is compatible is hardly worth getting in a flap over and yes, you are over-dramatising terribly. You are 6 months in - I'm just a little ahead of you - part of being a team is to work as a team, not somebody say well I want to use this and then have a fit! I see you're now saying you'll use the other packages - darned good job too! Yes there are programmes to make your Latex compatible, why you haven't used them I'm not sure, but it really isn't the end of the world at all. Now get a grip, chill out and worry about stuff that needs worrying about!

The reason I have been 'under a cloudy sky' during my PhD is because I live in Manchester!;-)