Re: State of documentation of ConTeXt?

[David Wooten <dw@trichotomic.net>]

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On Jul 15, 2014, at 2:59 AM, Gerben Wierda <Gerben.Wierda@rna.nl> wrote:

> I like ConTeXt (still do, I liked its approach when I first encountered it). But the project is more the ongoing private tinkering of a small in-crowd (that communicates with some followers).
> 
> ConTeXt is managed a bit like a small group of researchers sharing a couple of complex and undocumented models/programs and tinkering with them as they go along. It’s an activity without formal design, but with a lot of trial-and-error/testing.
> 
> Given that status (and the fact that it has had that status for over a decennium), I don’t expect it to ever become a serious product that is (semi-)professionally managed. I prefer content over management every day, but something like this needs some minimal management. That requires both time (=money) and capabilities. Besides, the tinkering researchers may not be inclined to do that, they want to tinker.


Agreed, though for my part with the opposite emphasis. I do not think ConTeXt is meant to be a “serious product”, as in being developed to be a product in the “marketplace” of  typesetting software — even open/free software. My impression is exactly yours, it is being developed primarily for the purposes of Pragma—a small in-crowd no doubt—but with extraordinarily generous support for a small community of non-Pragma people interested in using it. I’m grateful to have access to ConTeXt, as for me it’s the only sane method of typesetting the kind of documents I wish to typeset — not LaTeX, not InDesign, not Plain TeX, … I can tell you that every question or suggestion I’ve had has been responded to in the most generous form in this community, which I cannot say about any other platform I’ve used, typesetting or otherwise.

It’s suspect to take umbrage on another’s behalf, but “tinkering researchers may not be inclined to do that, they want to tinker” — It’s absurd to suggest that Hans &co. are “tinkering” for the sake of tinkering.

David 

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