I need a software that I can use to lay out a newsletter. Something similar to Adobe Pagemaker.
I also need to be able to convert the newsletter into a pdf file.

Any suggestion of software I can use?

openoffice?

Yep, openoffice is a way to go, I use openoffice 1.1.3 its faster than the older ones.

It can export all its files ( documents, presentations etc.. ) to pdf and even gices you an option to export it for publishing.

Latex( with improvements such as xetex,live-tex) is an excellent software
for such purpose.The current versions that come bundled with Fedora9/equivalent distros give excellent results Use packages"fontspec",
"xltxtra" for best results.
gbs6548 19.32009

OpenOffice is good, but you might also want to try Scribus.

Most Linux programs of this type will export to pdf.

Scribus. I second that.

“marie-p” asked her question in 2005…

If you are familiar with PageMaker, then try running that one via wine. Could also Try QuarkXPress, which is known to run in wine.

Using OpenOffice for any publishing attempts is just the same as using Microsoft Word for publishing attempts - they are horrible, it's not what they are meant to do. They are fine for other things, but not for DTP, if you have any quality requirements.

Unfortunately there is nothing comparable to PageMaker or QuarkXPress on Linux. Scribus has the ambitions, but not the abilities to be even near. Cenon has a desktop publisher tool for Linux since over a decade, but it's based on GNUStep, which itself is not very well supported anymore and makes installation quite tricky at times - but see for yourself at http://www.cenon.info/

Linux Archive

Marie-P, I'm doing the same thing -- looking for a DTP software package. See "Does anyone use Linux for DTP" thread.

I have found three packages:
1. Scribus -- the most found during a search, but not quite fully developed. It is functional for most uses as is, and can be used for most page layout. It appears to have everything I really need for my little magazine (http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html) though. I hesitate to switch to it because support is spotty and there is supposed to be a format change "soon". May have already occurred, I haven't checked in a couple months.

2. Xclamation -- Run an Intenret search and you'll find this. I haven't had time to try it yet, but it appears to be fully functional. Not sure if a cost is involved, but I couldn't find any mention of a price on the web site. Might be in the downloaded package, haven't downloaded yet.

3. PageStream -- Search! PageStream is a mature package that was the star of DTP on the Atari ST and has been ported to several platforms, including Linux (and Windows). It's a commercial package, not open source or free. Fully supported and well documented though. I've downloaded it and performed a cursory look, and it appears to be very similar to PageMaker 6, which I use now (later "upgrades" to PM were a joke, transitional packages to InDesign, which is too cumbersome). Cost is a reasonable $99 for the main program to $150 for a package with a lot of extras.

I don't mind paying a reasonable price for fully documented and supported software -- I'm leaning toward PageStream myself simply because of maturity and support. It may be a while before I can fully switch to Linux, mainly because it takes little time to produce my magazine using a template in PM6, but I'll have to do it all from scratch in another program. Won't be too time consuming, but the magazine is a hobby, family and my "real work" come first!!

PS - Here's the best unbiased review I've found of PageStream:
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/software/s300.htm