I'm a heavy LaTeX user, but LaTeX manages to be simultaneously amazing and completely insane.

Let's get started with some negatives (the positive are well known):

- Recompilations needed. Can be mitigated by latexmk, but still.

- Choice of latex, pdflatex, xelatex, lualatex ... and documents compiled with one may or may not compile with another

- packages that are incompatible with each other in odd ways

- when you encounter an error you have to enter "X". if you're using latexmk, you have to enter "X" multiple times

- math commands are not structure-based but presentation based, despite LaTeX's (otherwise well executed) posturing of separating content from styling. If you want to change the alignment of your equations or the size of the integrals sign or just slightly tweak the appearance of the | sign in {x^2 | x € R }, be prepared for a lot of rewriting (some of this can be alleviated by defining new commands, but I don't know how many people actually do that)

- Math LaTeX input is basically unparseable in the sense that it is not really possible to take some latex math code and convert it into some actual meaningful structure (this is a corollary of the above point). Given the ubiquity of LaTeX-style math even in a range of other contexts (e.g. KaTeX), this is a bit of an issue. It's possible to do a best effort implementation that sort-of works, but it's always gonna come up short

- Error messages: "Missing $", thanks

- Outdated defaults. Unicode should just work by default.

I think I could go on, but you get the point.

> - when you encounter an error you have to enter "X". if you're using latexmk, you have to enter "X" multiple times

Seems like you haven't heard of the "-interaction=nonstopmode" flag...

If you're pressing X for each error, this will be life-changing.

Thanks, I have actually never heard of that.

My pick with Latex is: Error messages look to me as complicated as C++ template errors, packages sometimes don't work well together, a lot of boilerplate is usually needed, and I feel somehow the Syntax needs too many keystrokes, like why not make {} for sub and superscript optional and everything until the next space character is sub or superscripted (and not only one character). Also writing {\rm text} feels wrong. Shdnd it be \rm {text} and maybe instead one shd be able to use $ in an equation block to get to a non italic font.

While markdown is not advanced enough, I feel the making it easier for the user to use is the right modern approach, from which maybe a full system could be designed.

Also figure placement should allow more fine-tuning (not sure how, and yes this is against the original spirit)

Might the {\rm text} notation be LISP-inspired syntax? Replace the braces with parentheses and remove the slash and you get `(rm text)`

Somehow \mbox is the opposite though (see the examples) : https://www.tutorialspoint.com/tex_commands/mbox.htm

Honestly I think I am missing all the points about brackets in Latex, if somebody knows the Syntax (and the 'why' pls tell me).

> what would you like to see in LaTeX's place?

a document preparation system in which

- it is easy to read what you wrote (without having to switch between the editor and the typeset text)

- customization is done with a sensible programming language