Ah…LaTeX documents are usually a thing of beauty.  After getting strange results in a standard word processor (i.e. Word), I realised hacking LaTeX to fit a document inside a page limit is like wrestling with your conscience – how far are you willing to compromise yourself to get the job done?

Then again, that’s probably giving LaTeX a bit more credit than it really deserves — sometimes,  the program really acts like a headstrong eccentric fashion designer.  “Placement Hints” usually equates to “Completely Ignored” — success in that area is probably more due to accidental coinciding philosophy rather than any particular flexibility on LaTeX’s part.

And OpenOffice?  Memories of the gargantuan mecha-godzilla beast, crushing processor and memory limits alike, usually get me to steer clear.