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I wanted to learn LaTeX in order to write a thesis, and also use some suggested packages to enhance it, such as:
polyglossia, microtype, hyperref, luatextra, kpfonts, xcolor, xindy, booktabs, supertabular, longtable, flafter, fancyhdr, geometry, layaureo, indenfirst, chngpage, setspace, footmisc, bigfoot, mathtools, caption, amssymb, pgfplots, graphicx.

What packages do people load by default in LaTeX?

But now I'm considering to use KOMA and/or LuaTeX.

What of the aforementioned packages are not needed with KOMA or LuaTeX because they are already included, replaced by something better o just incompatible?
If they are replaced please tell the name of the new options.

There is an old similar question What packages are incompatible with KOMA-Script? but it only speaks about incompatibility with KOMA and only about 5 packages. It doesn't say anything about the other packages nor unneeded ones nor LuaTeX.

skan
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    You need to read KOMA documentation. It can be compiled with pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, Lua... (as other document classes). – Zarko Nov 23 '16 at 20:16
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    I suspect your question is "too broad" to be answered in this form but your package list contains some strange items, opmac is not for latex at all, luatextra shouldn't be used with current luatex setup, morefloats not needed with current latex, luaotfload not usually loaded directly (but used by fontspec) – David Carlisle Nov 23 '16 at 21:40
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    fancyhdr can be replaced by the KOMA package scrlayer-scrpage. If you still need geometry and caption with a KOMA class depends on what are really doing. pgfplots loads xcolor automatically. – esdd Nov 23 '16 at 22:36
  • Removed opmac, morefloats and luaotfload. – skan Nov 23 '16 at 23:47
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    Shouldn't you remove luatextra as well? If you are going to load fontspec, you probably don't want to load kpfonts. Or check whether there is a maths-only option. If you use LuaTeX, better to stick to unicode fonts for text. What is layeureo? What is flalter? – cfr Nov 24 '16 at 00:14
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    I would suggest to start out with no packages at all, and only add packages if and when a specific need for each arises. – Michael Palmer Nov 24 '16 at 00:15
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    microtype is not fully compatible with LuaTeX although it is now mostly compatible. Check if the features you want are supported. – cfr Nov 24 '16 at 00:15
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    @MichaelPalmer Indeed. Except maybe microtype and indentfirst. Those are never exactly needed. – cfr Nov 24 '16 at 00:17
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    @cfr I would like to use kpfonts or mathpazo or some nice fonts. – skan Nov 24 '16 at 00:25
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    @skan - that is fine, of course. I was only recommending not to use a laundry-list approach to package imports without identifying the specific need for each. – Michael Palmer Nov 24 '16 at 00:31
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    So why do you want LuaTeX or fontspec especially? I assume fontspec since you listed luaotfload earlier apparently. – cfr Nov 24 '16 at 00:55
  • I'm just open to any suggestion. I want to learn something but not to go back and learning something different. I just need to use kerning and I would like to use new packages and tools such as polyglossia, xindy.... – skan Nov 24 '16 at 01:37
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    Please only use packages you actually need in your project, not a huge list of packages others use - and never use packages you don't know what they are for. There are package combinations, that can cause problems and every unnecessary package you have increases this risk and makes it more difficult to pinpoint a problem. – samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz Nov 24 '16 at 01:38
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    I have to echo the sentiment that you should focus at first creating a simple document at first. Your documentclass choice is a fine choice. But now that you've picked it, try to make a .tex file that has some section headings, a simple table, an enumerated list, some footnotes (which can all be done without loading a single package), and some math (if you're going to need it). Learn how to create simple commands and environments with \newcommand and \newenvironment. Then worry about whether you need to load other packages. – jon Nov 24 '16 at 04:48
  • Yes but if I decide to start with KOMA (or memoir) that initial scheme would be different. – skan Nov 24 '16 at 12:57
  • I've read that kpfonts are incompatible with fontspec's Luatex. What can I do? – skan Nov 24 '16 at 21:34
  • Do I still need geometry to define margins? – skan Nov 25 '16 at 16:32

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