Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

[Doug McIlroy]

An arguable distinction:

I thought hard about claiming priority for -ms. Joe Ossanna intended
option -m to foster macro packages from the outset. -man was an early use,
hidden in the man command.  But -man was not packaged (in the sense of
being an announced feature that can be used from its external description)
until v7. -ms appeared in v6.

Doug

Arnold Robbins <arnold@skeeve.com> wrote:

> Doug McIlroy <doug at cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
> 
>>> Why create ms when you have mm?
>>
>> Well, the real reason is that ms was the very first macro package.
>> It has held up spectactularly well, evolving much less than the
>> underlying [ntg]roff.
>>
>> Doug
> 
> Or say, rather, the first *general purpose* macro package. The man
> macros predate it. :-)

Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

[ron]

There was a bit of internal controversy at JHU when Michael John Muuss added
his tmac.jm macro package.   Many people thought the -mjm nroff option was a
little self serving.

Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

[arnold]

I wasn't aware of the history / distinction, thanks.

Arnold

Doug McIlroy <doug@cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:

> An arguable distinction:
>
> I thought hard about claiming priority for -ms. Joe Ossanna intended
> option -m to foster macro packages from the outset. -man was an early use,
> hidden in the man command.  But -man was not packaged (in the sense of
> being an announced feature that can be used from its external description)
> until v7. -ms appeared in v6.
>
> Doug
>
> Arnold Robbins <arnold@skeeve.com> wrote:
>
> > Doug McIlroy <doug at cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
> > 
> >>> Why create ms when you have mm?
> >>
> >> Well, the real reason is that ms was the very first macro package.
> >> It has held up spectactularly well, evolving much less than the
> >> underlying [ntg]roff.
> >>
> >> Doug
> > 
> > Or say, rather, the first *general purpose* macro package. The man
> > macros predate it. :-)

Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

[arnold]

Doug McIlroy <doug@cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:

> > Why create ms when you have mm?
>
> Well, the real reason is that ms was the very first macro package.
> It has held up spectactularly well, evolving much less than the
> underlying [ntg]roff.
>
> Doug

Or say, rather, the first *general purpose* macro package. The man
macros predate it. :-)

Arnold

Re: [TUHS] [groff] Creating a numbered list without macros

[Doug McIlroy]

> Why create ms when you have mm?

Well, the real reason is that ms was the very first macro package.
It has held up spectactularly well, evolving much less than the
underlying [ntg]roff.

Doug