Re: tlug: (La)TeX, SGML, or ... ?

[Jim Tittsler <jwt-tlug@example.com>]

On Sat, Dec 26, 1998 at 01:47:19AM +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>     jb> The choices appear to be Tex or LaTeX, SGML, or create
>     jb> Postscript files.
> 
> Forget Postscript, the only people in their right minds who compose
> large documents directly in Postscript are all computers.  Hand-
> written Postscript is going to be either Ugly or unmaintainable.

I believe this is too strong.  While I agree that PostScript doesn't sound
like the correct tool for Jonathan's project, it is quite possible to create
reasonable documents in PostScript.  Don Lancaster (of TV Typewriter
Cookbook fame, and countless monthly columns of self-promotion) is probably
the most prolific in his praise for this method. <URL:http://www.tinaja.com/>
Once you have built the right set of procedures, you can make pretty marks
on paper easily and can take advantage of the underlying programming
language as necessary.  (Certainly beats *roff macros. :-)  And like other
"formatting languages", it shares the facility to be edited with a plain
text editor on any platform.  I've dirtied reams of paper with PostScript
created on my old Atari palmtop.

Jim
(whose copy of Glenn Reid's _Thinking in PostScript_ is still in easy reach,
but who uses SGML for most things nowadays... since that structure
facilitates multiple "views" of the same text more readily)

-- 
Jim Tittsler, Tokyo   ICQ: 5981586

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Nomikai: 14 January 1999, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
*** it will will be Jan 14 (Thu), as Jan 15 (Fri) is a natl holiday
Next Technical Meeting: 13 February, 12:30               Place: TBD
-------------------------------------------------------------------
more info: http://tlug.linux.or.jp                     Sponsor: PHT