From: toby@telegraphics.com.au (Toby Thain)
Subject: [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - Re: SunOS 4 documentation
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2017 11:09:15 -0400 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <195e1d78-6aa2-2472-1802-dbade283ad35@telegraphics.com.au> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAHfSdrVaC1UgKn2ssUPfV9zAtaR06WinCZWQNDOH9D4MNDiC1Q@mail.gmail.com>
On 2017-04-15 10:23 AM, Michael Kerpan wrote:
> Comparing documents produced by Heirloom troff and modern versions of
> LaTeX, I just can't see a huge difference. The main thing TeX has going
> for it is LyX, which makes composing documents a whole lot more
> comfortable for folks raised on WYSIWYG. If a tool like that was
> available for troff...
I'm not only talking about the _output_. But my intention isn't to
denigrate troff but to show that they are completely different animals.
A glance through the TeXbook would confirm.
TeX is a complete domain-specific language, page model, and runtime
environment (without even discussing its layered frameworks like LaTeX).
I admit it took me a few weeks or months of study back in the late 1980s
to understand this distinction; previously I had been using a
troff-level markup (perhaps even troff-inspired) on Mac called
"JustText", which generated PostScript of course.
One _can_ typeset books in both troff and TeX, but that doesn't make
them at all equivalent. The process and possibilities are different. For
example, that simple task of producing two different output formats from
the same manuscript, that I mentioned upthread, is made possible by TeX
macros. But the sophistication of its page model is also required for
any nontrivial layout, table, diagram, math, or just typographic
refinement.
Some projects _have_ tried to replace TeX.
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/120271/alternatives-to-latex
--T
>
> Mike
>
> On Apr 14, 2017 6:24 PM, "Toby Thain" <toby at telegraphics.com.au
> <mailto:toby at telegraphics.com.au>> wrote:
>
> On 2017-04-14 9:56 AM, Michael Kerpan wrote:
>
> Of course, these days, there's a version of troff that borrows TeX's
> layout rules, while also adding vastly improved font handling,
> support
> for the most useful/widely used groff extensions, and more. Why
> Heirloom
> troff isn't more widely used is a puzzle for the ages.
>
>
> No matter how far you tart up the former, Troff and TeX just aren't
> playing the same ballgame.
>
> --T
>
>
> Mike
>
>
>
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2017-04-15 15:09 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 41+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2017-04-12 21:54 [TUHS] " Cory Smelosky
2017-04-12 22:55 ` Cory Smelosky
2017-04-12 23:31 ` Larry McVoy
2017-04-13 2:13 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-13 2:16 ` Steve Nickolas
2017-04-13 2:25 ` [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - " Toby Thain
2017-04-13 14:25 ` Nemo
2017-04-13 15:41 ` Andreas Kusalananda Kähäri
2017-04-13 16:35 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-13 2:20 ` [TUHS] " Larry McVoy
2017-04-13 13:41 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-13 15:40 ` [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - " Toby Thain
2017-04-13 23:22 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-14 0:40 ` Greg 'groggy' Lehey
2017-04-14 1:59 ` Nemo
2017-04-14 3:00 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-14 2:59 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-14 13:38 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-14 13:56 ` Michael Kerpan
2017-04-14 16:55 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-14 22:24 ` Toby Thain
[not found] ` <CAHfSdrVAnPn3hwFR0ie0o-yuqGX0hu+LWweNZngpoY4=efTSaA@mail.gmail.com>
2017-04-15 14:23 ` Michael Kerpan
2017-04-15 15:09 ` Toby Thain [this message]
2017-04-15 16:07 ` [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - " Mutiny
2017-04-15 21:48 ` Dave Horsfall
2017-04-15 22:12 ` ron minnich
2017-04-16 0:02 ` Dave Horsfall
2017-04-15 15:27 ` [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - " Clem Cole
2017-04-15 17:05 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-15 17:10 ` Toby Thain
2017-04-18 4:49 ` Greg 'groggy' Lehey
2017-04-14 13:07 ` Wolfgang Helbig
2017-04-14 20:56 ` Clem Cole
2017-04-16 13:42 ` Tim Bradshaw
2017-04-13 14:14 ` [TUHS] " Nemo
2017-04-13 16:34 ` Steve Simon
2017-04-13 23:14 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-14 8:30 ` Steve Simon
2017-04-14 13:21 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-04-13 13:28 ` John Labovitz
2017-04-17 18:56 [TUHS] TeX/troff/typesetting markups - " Doug McIlroy
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