Cloud versions of Latex

I work with Lyx http://www.lyx.org/, the GUI for Latex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX, for writing my books. 18 years of writing in MS Word, and yes I have rightly criticized for my bad formatting. I hope to do a better job for R for Cloud Computing. Someday I will learn Latex and Sweave http://www.stat.uni-muenchen.de/~leisch/Sweave/ as well (sighs)

Sweave is a tool that allows to embed the R code for complete data analyses in latex documents. The purpose is to create dynamic reports, which can be updated automatically if data or analysis change. Instead of inserting a prefabricated graph or table into the report, the master document contains the R code necessary to obtain it. When run through R, all data analysis output (tables, graphs, etc.) is created on the fly and inserted into a final latex document. The report can be automatically updated if data or analysis change, which allows for truly reproducible research.

Where can I get it?

The Sweave software itself is part of every R installation

But alternatives to Lyx for a browser only version of Latex do exist.

There are ~~two~~ three of them right now

1) https://www.sharelatex.com/ ShareLaTeX is now open source! ShareLaTeX is an online real-time collaborative LaTeX editor, and you can now run your own local version where you can host, edit, collaborate in real-time, and compile your LaTeX documents. You can run the hosted version at http://www.sharelatex.com,

2) http://fiduswriter.org/ Fidus Writer is an online collaborative editor especially made for academics who need to use citations and/or formulas. The editor focuses on the content rather than the layout, so that with the same text, you can later on publish it in multiple ways: On a website, as a printed book, or as an ebook. In each case, you can choose from a number of layouts that are adequate for the medium of choice.

3) https://www.writelatex.com/

All are equally good and equally nascent. I like that Writelatex has an API

I like the Fidus Writer interface more but the ShareLatex has a bigger set of templates. I think Write Latex is more evolved than Fidus Writer but will still need to catch up with Share Latex

Both are available on Github for tinkering.

https://github.com/fiduswriter/fiduswriter and

https://github.com/sharelatex/sharelatex and

https://github.com/sweenzor/writelatex-compile

Maybe I will have to wait for Google Docs for creating an application for Latex typesetting. In the meantime, we shall Lyx.

(Hat tip – S Boucher for pointing me to write latex)