Re: [bug] `org-latex-line-break-safe' breaks the export of verse blocks to LaTeX

[Juan Manuel Macías]

Ihor Radchenko writes:

>> And finally, I think that applying a general solution to this problem is
>> something that should be done(IMHO) in LaTeX and not in Org, for
>> example, with some new package that would protect certain signs or
>> through ad hoc LaTeX/Lua code.
>
> Either way, we will need to use the new package in ox-latex.el. And our
> current approach is somewhat better because users can still use direct
> LaTeX @@latex:\\@@ if they want to get "\\" exactly.

I'm afraid we differ completely on what Org's priorities are at this
point. The way I see it, Org shouldn't try to solve LaTeX problems,
because Org isn't proficient in LaTeX. This is a known issue in LaTeX,
where a leading bracket can be confused with the optional argument of a
preceding macro (such as \\ or \linebreak). And it doesn't just happen
in this context. It can also happen with environments that have optional
arguments, although the case of \\ is the most common and the case of
environments depends on how the environment is defined. For this
problem, LaTeX has been recommending various *specific* solutions
(because the probability of it appearing is very low, luckily), such as
enclosing the brackets in two {} or putting a \relax before .

In this case Org intends to solve the LaTeX problem, and it does it, in
my opinion, poorly, by generalizing a particular solution for what is
even an extremely rare problem. This is the typical case that can be
easily solved by the user with a macro or an export filter, as I have
been doing for a long time, and at no time have I needed anything else.

Org must worry about exporting well and offering the necessary tools for
that to happen, as it has been doing until now. And the duty of the
users is to know reasonably the language to which they export, to the
extent of what they want to obtain when they export. Org should not be a
substitute for LaTeX: whoever wants to get special things in LaTeX, must
know LaTeX. It's that easy. If Org is going to start trying to solve at
its own risk all the *specific* problems that can appear in the typical
compilation of a LaTeX document, then I prefer to stop using Org and use
pure LaTeX from the beginning.

And as for the ox-latex.el file, in its current state it is completely
unusable for me. At least the user could be offered the possibility of
choosing.