LyX

LyX is a cross‑platform document processor designed for structured document editing and What You See Is What You Mean, or WYSIWYM. It provides a document‑centric interface where the meaning and structure of content are separated from its typographic appearance. LyX uses LaTeX as its typesetting backend and aims to produce professionally formatted output with minimal manual formatting. It is free and open‑source software released under the GNU General Public License.

LyX features structured editing, semantic markup, robust support for mathematics, references and citations via BibTeX/BibLaTeX, cross-references, indexes, and tables of contents. It includes templates and document classes, spell checking, hyphenation, and language support. It can import and export to formats such as LaTeX, PDF, HTML, OpenDocument, and plain text; supports exporting to RTF in some builds. It integrates with BibTeX/BibLaTeX workflows and can manage bibliographies within documents.

Interface and workflow: Users enter content in a structured way using sections, subsections, and environments; formatting is controlled by LaTeX, not manually applied in the editor. This WYSIWYM approach helps focus on document content and structure rather than appearance. It is commonly used for academic writing, theses, articles, and technical reports.

Platform and development: LyX runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS, built with the Qt toolkit, and is maintained by an international community of volunteers. It remains under active development with new releases and improvements.