Markdown Is Not LaTeX
The article discusses the differences between Markdown and LaTeX, emphasizing Markdown's ease of use. It criticizes Microsoft for altering GitHub Flavored Markdown to incorporate LaTeX elements, which complicates the syntax. The author expresses a preference for using a specific internal fork of Markdown rather than the modified version.
- ▪Markdown was designed to be easy for both authors and implementers.
- ▪Microsoft's changes to GitHub Flavored Markdown have introduced confusion with LaTeX syntax.
- ▪The author prefers using an internal fork of Markdown instead of the newer GFM parsers.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
[VERIFIED] Last updated by Joe Schaefer on Sat, 23 May 2026 source Markdown’s OriginsThe point of John Gruber’s Markdown syntax was that it was easy to work with; not just from an authoring standpoint, but from an implementer’s perspective as well. LaTeX\LaTeXLATEX, MathML, and HTML5 are not that. GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM)GFM stayed true to that design goal right up until Microsoft bastardized the isolated dollar sign to convert it into a LaTeX\LaTeXLATEX sigil because of some antiquated, ugly crapware called MathJax that had nothing to do with Markdown, and the fact that these assholes don’t want to promote KaTeX\KaTeXKATEX without a bribe from the Khan Academy.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hacker News (Front Page).
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