From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id ca1d6a0d for ; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 07:26:35 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id A68F7A1D10; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:26:34 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E7268A1CE2; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:26:04 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id BF6E3A1CE2; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:26:02 +1000 (AEST) Received: from freefriends.org (freefriends.org [96.88.95.60]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A12BCA1CE1 for ; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:26:01 +1000 (AEST) X-Envelope-From: arnold@skeeve.com Received: from freefriends.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by freefriends.org (8.14.9/8.14.9) with ESMTP id wAT7PuCq019146; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:25:56 -0700 Received: (from arnold@localhost) by freefriends.org (8.14.9/8.14.9/submit) id wAT7PuE1019145; Thu, 29 Nov 2018 07:25:56 GMT From: arnold@skeeve.com Message-Id: <201811290725.wAT7PuE1019145@freefriends.org> X-Authentication-Warning: frenzy.freefriends.org: arnold set sender to arnold@skeeve.com using -f Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:25:56 -0700 To: tuhs@tuhs.org, tuhs@eric.allman.name References: <201811160003.wAG03mlF139232@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> <20181116045016.GK3341@mcvoy.com> <7a632484-cdc7-7c59-7077-7a2c752045da@spamtrap.tnetconsulting.net> <4c36b2b2-76df-435f-27bc-e1feb0647f36@case.edu> <201811162113.wAGLDGiQ031455@darkstar.fourwinds.com> <201811190311.wAJ3BDHR028154@darkstar.fourwinds.com> <6a179556-322c-8ba5-b957-5ae7a03ec610@neophilic.com> In-Reply-To: <6a179556-322c-8ba5-b957-5ae7a03ec610@neophilic.com> User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.4 7/29/08 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] man-page style X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Eric Allman wrote: > [I sent this almost a week ago, but it never showed up, probably because > Speaking of troff, that was interesting documentation. Ossanna's > documentation told you exactly what all of the commands did, but didn't > say why they did it. Many of the features seemed absolutely crazy at > first. I probably read that document 50 times when writing the -me > macros, every time having a light bulb go off in my head. I finally > concluded that _everything_ was needed to do something useful, and you > could do pretty much _anything_ with the available tools (including > things like page balancing). A master work of design, and blissfully > complete documentation (even if a bit obscure to the newbie). Any chance you, or someone else, could write that missing manual that explains the "why" of the various troff features? I've been through CSTR 54 a few times too, although I haven't tried to write a macro package from scratch, and I have to admit that there are things that mystify me. Thanks! Arnold