Software choice for publishing?

["Geoff Hart" <geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca>]

Russ Griechen needs <<...to do some technical writing for 
one of my projects.  I have Microsoft Publisher. Since there is 
a lot of layout and strict placement of text...is there a better 
layout?>>

Publisher is a decent, entry-level program, but it's a poor tool 
for technical writing compared with Word or FrameMaker. 
It's unlikely that Publisher provides any layout capabilities 
that you can't either accomplish or approximate in Word and 
Frame, and you're far more likely to be able to find help (e.g., 
here on techwr-l) solving problems with the use of either 
package.

One important note: Check with your client to find out 
whether they want you to give them a copy of the project files 
once you're done. If so, that may determine what software 
you should choose (e.g., if they work in Word, then you 
should provide them a Word file at the end of your contract); 
you can always do a file conversion at the end of the process, 
then redo the layout for the client, but why do two layouts 
when you can do one?

--Geoff Hart @8^{)}  geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca  (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)
"Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all those sevens, something just calling out for us to discover it. But I 
suspect 
that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence." George Miller, "The Magical Number Seven" (1956)