From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.6 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: from cgl.ntg.nl (Cgl.ntg.nl [5.39.185.202]) by inbox.vuxu.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1C67B22223 for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:06:42 +0200 (CEST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by cgl.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3C032484278 for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:06:00 +0200 (CEST) X-Virus-Scanned: Debian amavisd-new at cgl.ntg.nl Authentication-Results: cgl.ntg.nl (amavisd-new); dkim=fail (2048-bit key) reason="fail (message has been altered)" header.d=xs4all.nl Received: from cgl.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (cgl.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id LOswxrgc0aVK for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:05:59 +0200 (CEST) Received: from cgl.ntg.nl (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by cgl.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 57C894841FB for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:05:10 +0200 (CEST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by cgl.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id CC4B94841FB for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:04:42 +0200 (CEST) X-Virus-Scanned: Debian amavisd-new at cgl.ntg.nl Received: from cgl.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (cgl.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id BlBKvjccMyK9 for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:04:41 +0200 (CEST) Received-SPF: Pass (mailfrom) identity=mailfrom; client-ip=195.121.94.185; helo=ewsoutbound.kpnmail.nl; envelope-from=j.hagen@xs4all.nl; receiver= Received: from ewsoutbound.kpnmail.nl (ewsoutbound.kpnmail.nl [195.121.94.185]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (2048 bits) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by cgl.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 751994841FA for ; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:04:41 +0200 (CEST) X-KPN-MessageId: 383e0ea8-f996-11ee-99a6-005056999439 Received: from smtp.kpnmail.nl (unknown [10.31.155.5]) by ewsoutbound.so.kpn.org (Halon) with ESMTPS id 383e0ea8-f996-11ee-99a6-005056999439; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:03:27 +0200 (CEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=xs4all.nl; s=xs4all01; h=content-type:from:to:subject:mime-version:date:message-id; bh=QkpohnyljQd2YKjY+6GulPn8Jo/kJ3dbbyXFKzI97bM=; b=CrIY1HXoBgi9qLDMdVmpjYHio/3ZJWqWUFkNALjy1p8aJMMjf1gVPJwgvguVveEhT5MJKw7JWGgmo m+H8dOPQgwQmLidUhlhuVygG2WgM6D0GTtzEbV0YrPa9oTJRYP6wd7TqIPbyDlts1ZzpUvCH0is0nz Z5+rJhL1AcMTnH3BQXcNJf2m3MvyBVKZBO1I9+n3HTGEHnaKGbyquu+4lUkm9pe+EMXPeSpa9ql7lL qIM1G0M5RJM3g2RWnU6289VN7j63/W/xAAFlMzYdE0+1CsMhs0klBpySxuHbBuBIFodIeDvJ4t9RfL sCn2RXQr46r84E+OXSorYBCLVdeQwzw== X-KPN-MID: 33|RR/TPXMEBKvgJWCFb9MYIpHTK8V0P/8CXfH70jvlsTWtI/VWNMnSoHiPjrQiy4h zOYGfFP9mgFUnLUUl9TEIgZf5a9wIxd53tBbq+PH8IhI= X-KPN-VerifiedSender: Yes X-CMASSUN: 33|s9YNpIdGdESaRbF7upxKGmfhteLMMQkHlusCb9fRwlMQMfd7Dsq5Ub8by3E1QaC 4xrFbaCwANLnpplx387jI6g== X-Originating-IP: 213.125.29.162 Received: from [10.100.1.105] (d57d1da2.static.ziggozakelijk.nl [213.125.29.162]) by smtp.xs4all.nl (Halon) with ESMTPSA id 63c6def8-f996-11ee-94ef-00505699b758; Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:04:41 +0200 (CEST) Message-ID: <4615fa07-4d8a-47a7-8a21-7736211969c9@xs4all.nl> Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:04:39 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird To: ntg-context@ntg.nl References: Content-Language: en-US From: Hans Hagen In-Reply-To: Message-ID-Hash: HMOSRFY7DAU3YDOGMDHZ63WOJLJ344G2 X-Message-ID-Hash: HMOSRFY7DAU3YDOGMDHZ63WOJLJ344G2 X-MailFrom: j.hagen@xs4all.nl X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.8 Precedence: list Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users Subject: [NTG-context] Re: Back in the 90s List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On 4/13/2024 2:12 PM, Riviera Taylor wrote: > Hello, > > I was reading about the history of ConTeXt in the Not So Short > Introduction To ConTeXt and I have a historical question. I noticed that > the PDF specification was published in 1993 yet ConTeXt was invented in > 1991. The book suggests that PDF output was handled by the PdfTeX engine > in MKII in 2005. What sort of output did the software produce before > PdfTeX was introduced? Was this the same as the output produced by the > software before the publication of the PDF specification? 2005 is when we started with luatex which is a follow up on pdftex, and pdftex is more a mid 90's thing; we immediately adopted pdftex (which made some believe that context depended on pdftex which is not true) anyway, we started with dvi which needs a postprocessor to go to some printer format like specific hp or more general postscript but also can drive viewers we went from epson dot matrix printer -> early 300 dpi laser -> 600 dpi laser printer -> high speed oce 512 dpi printer (metric) -> high speed oce 600 dpi printer (+ crappy canon color laser printer) -> fast page-wide hp color inkjet office printer in mkii all is controlled by backend drivers, that use so called specials to support color, hyperlinks, images so a workflow can have - dvipsone : high quality postscript - dviwindo : viewer with typeone support and hyperlinks - acrobat : postscript to pdf and as all these external backends have their demands we could handle all these things in an abstract way (that way one could also drive printer properties like duplex or paper bins etc from a tex job) that meant that when pdf came around we could almost immediately support most of the interactive features in a dvi -> ps -> acrobat workflow when pdftex came around the intermediate step of postscript could be avoided which btw was also possible with dvipdfm(x) so we also supported that so to summarize, it went from tex -> dvi -> printer format tex -> dvi -> postscript -> more generic printer format tex -> dvi -> pdf -> print from acrobat tex -> pdf -> print from pdf viewer in the meantime we are pdf (as from that one can produce other formats) Hans (btw, the fact that we could easily support pdf was also a reason why at that time some adobe folk in nl used documents produced by context to show somewhat extrems usage of interactive features, thanks to the fact that tex can adapt to such new situations, also via the dvi route in this case with pdfmarks; at that time pdf usage - and features - was a bit more dualistic: ps replacement format versus storage and preview format, but that's a different story; but it still shows in how the standard evolved) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl ----------------------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________________________________________________________ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / https://mailman.ntg.nl/mailman3/lists/ntg-context.ntg.nl webpage : https://www.pragma-ade.nl / https://context.aanhet.net (mirror) archive : https://github.com/contextgarden/context wiki : https://wiki.contextgarden.net ___________________________________________________________________________________