lmtx

[Hans Hagen <j.hagen@xs4all.nl>]

Hi,

So, for those who hesitate to check out lmtx, here is some information.

- In order to achieve long term stability context will use a lean and 
mean variant of luatex (although for now context will keep running on 
luatex too; i might drop support for luajittex). Eventually the source 
code will be part of the context distribution so that one can always 
compile a binary that matches an archived context version.

- This version also permits us to experiment (even very extreme) without 
interupting the parent program luatex, which is now used by other macro 
packages too and therefore needs to be frozen in functionality. Some 
features might trickle back into luatex eventually (unless it breaks 
compatibility).

- As a direct effect it means that context does a bit more: creating the 
pdf file (already most is done anyway in mkiv), dealing with font 
embedding, handling image inclusion, etc. For sure there can be issues 
with that but it has run on my machine already for quite a while.

- It is hard to be conclusive about performance but for instance the 
luatex manual processes a bit faster with lmtx as does the test suite. A 
gain in performance on very demanding documents is also observed by Alan 
and Thomas. Normally one can expect a similar performance. However, the 
memory footprint could be a bit smaller.

- The current somewhat hybrid codebase of context will stepwise be 
adapted so that at some point we can start experimenting with some 
pending ideas. (Which is why i sometimes answer "later this year".)

Anyway, it might not look like it, but it is a conceptual change in how 
context evolves.

Hans


-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                           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 / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://context.aanhet.net
archive  : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________