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author | Norbert Preining <norbert@preining.info> | 2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900 |
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committer | Norbert Preining <norbert@preining.info> | 2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900 |
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tree | 60335e10d2f4354b0674ec22d7b53f0f8abee672 /usergrps/uktug/baskervi/4_4/clark.tex |
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diff --git a/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/4_4/clark.tex b/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/4_4/clark.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..617a583229 --- /dev/null +++ b/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/4_4/clark.tex @@ -0,0 +1,392 @@ +\title{Malcolm's Gleanings} +\author[Malcolm Clark]{Malcolm Clark\\\texttt{m.clark@warwick.ac.uk}} +\begin{Article} + +\section{TUG94, The Conference} +My impressions of the TUG94 conference in Santa Barbara will be pretty +general:\footnote{Readers who want a different view can peruse Michel + Goossens' article earlier in this issue of \BV.} I did not sit +through every session and listen to every talk. To be frank, that's +not really what I go to these events for. Since we had the preprints +as part of the conference pack, I could (if I wanted) flick through +and pick out the potentially interesting ones. Or better, see what was +really dire, and ignore them. Since I seemed to be roped in to other +conference stuff anyway, I kept having to disappear and find people. + +One distressing feature I did note was the inability of many speakers +to address an audience. We are in a fairly large auditorium. +Fortunately there are microphones, but in US style these are fixed +rather than throat or lapel mikes. This does make mobility a problem, +especially when you are trying to use overheads. So many people turn +to the projected slide and point to it instead of pointing to the +slide on the ohp and talking to the audience. A microphone simply +does not catch your voice if you turn the back of your head to it. +Honest. One other thing I notice is that the \TeX\ Users Group (or +perhaps \TeX\ users) have little charisma. I suppose when the +material is so worthy (\ie high in \emph{content}), the +presentation (\ie the \emph{form}) shouldn't matter. I'm sorry, but +it does. But again, when addressing an audience of presumed converts, +perhaps we shouldn't worry about a lack of presentation skills. Again, +I think not. It does make us look very amateurish, and not everyone in +the audience is a convert. + +The conference had a number of `big names'. At least, it had some +people who were well known, but not frequent attendees at the annual +meeting. The first coup was Chuck Bigelow, who gave an entertaining +enough talk, but its relevance to \TeX\ was not clear. Leslie Lamport's +contribution was interesting, although when he started talking about \LaTeX4 +a shudder seemed to run through the \LaTeX3 team. He had something to +say about structure editors, but informal discussions later suggested +that he maligned them unfairly. If you want to visualise LL as you +read the \LaTeX\ book, the Bibby lion cartoons in it are +remarkably similar. Oren Patashnik +also talked about \BibTeX. I had imagined someone at least seven feet tall. +Perhaps the other `newcomer' I was hoping to see was Norm Walsh +whose book `Making \TeX\ work' had just been published. (He nearly is +seven feet tall.) Apart from that it was the usual gaggle of \TeX ies. + +In general the conference seemed to run smoothly, or at least, not +many people saw the hitches. The most obvious hitch was the lack of +tea or coffee on the afternoon of the first day. The overhead projectors +could have been better. The vendors could also have had a better deal. +To get to the vendors you had to poke your way through an apparent +dead end, past a few bins and through a nondescript door. And all they +had were a few tables. + +The social programme was slightly chaotic: it started with a reception +where keg of Sierra Nevada turned out to be Michelob, but the bowling +turned out well, with some pleasant surprises (the usual performances +from Nelson Beebe and Ken Dreyhaupt, and a cute native American rain +dance from Don `do people really think I'm a nerd' Hosek); the +barbecue at the beach benefited from some real Sierra Nevada (as well +as copious quantities of other comestibles); the boat trip was +apparently a success, despite some upchucking and no whales -- and +much confusion on how or when to get to the boat; the banquet (a +buffet, actually) was limited in choice, but agreeable enough, and the +music improved enormously as the evening progressed -- enough to get a +surprising number of people on their feet, notably Tom `party animal' +Rokicki. + +Now, I wouldn't like you to get the idea that we're only here to have +a good time, but the social side really is valuable. You end up +talking to all sorts of people and probably learn more useful stuff +this way than in the rest of the conference. I toy with the idea of +having one single parallel session and devoting the rest of the time +to constructive socialisation. + +The `Tugly Telegraph' made its appearance each day. It's useful, +since it has a more accurate daily programme, as well as instructions +on how to get to `events', and other general bits and pieces. It is +perhaps less successful than last year's at Aston, but then, its +editor, John Berlin, is doing other jobs too (unlike last year's +editor), and only occasional extra help with the newsletter. In any +event, he manages to get each edition out before midnight on the +preceding day. The crossword flops: no correct entries are submitted. +Peter Flynn is obviously too subtle or devious. + +I'm told that the TUG general meeting overruns. This was one event I +was determined to miss. The next two talks are more or less cancelled. +As a result, there is a proposal that next year's general meeting +will be open ended. This is naive. Given a choice between a general +meeting at (say) four o'clock, which might run on till the evening, +and catching a few rays on the beach, I know where I will be. On the +other hand, slotting the meeting in at the beginning of the afternoon, +I might just be carried along by inertia and attend. Of course, I'm +jaded by the TUG board stuff. I've been there and I know that nothing +changes, no matter how strongly you feel about it, and how sincerely +you want to get things done. By not attending, I surrender my rights +to comment. But I had a wonderful afternoon instead. How often do you +get the chance to swim with dolphins? + +Apparently there is also some bizarre notion to reduce the membership +fees, but to make \TUB\ optional. Somehow TTN will become a more +general `journal', carrying some of \TUB's present material. What +present material you may ask? It is now August 12th and no sign has +been seen of the second edition of 1994 (volume 15 number 2). \TUB's +calendar suggested that this edition would be mailed on May 23rd. +When last year's final copies came out more or less on time I had +supposed that it had finally managed to get its act together and was +to be produced on a regular and reliable basis. Clearly I was deluded. +What is the problem? I refuse to accept the usual story that it is a +complex journal and that to achieve the standards required the devoted +and underpaid or unpaid editorial volunteers have to devote limitless +time and energy to it. \TUB\ is dying at the altar of quality. If the +journal is to have any credibility it has to come out regularly. Maybe +it really is too complex and \TeX\ is not really up to the production. +Commercial publishers -- to whom we direct much encouragement to use +\TeX\ -- could not allow themselves to be sucked into this cuckoo's +nest. TUG has to try to be realistic and trim the sails of \TUB\ so +that it can leave port. There are enough enemies of TUG, inside and +outside the user group, who wish to see it dismembered, and who do not +need to be able to point to \TUB\ to see graphic demonstration (or +non-demonstration) of the health of the whole organisation. + + +Another canard flies: despite the manifest evidence that this +is an international conference (add up the speakers from outside +the US) the old bogey that TUG is essentially a North American +organisation reappears in discussions with some board members. +They want some umbrella organisation to be formed from +representatives of TUG (North America TUG), and the other +user groups, which will somehow `direct' \TeX\ research +and development. A likely tale. However, if TUG does uncouple +itself from \TUB, this could be a serious proposal. If \TUB\ +is separate, I won't buy it, because the package of TUG plus +\TUB\ membership will be too expensive. The only benefits +that remain of TUG membership are cheaper fees to the +annual meeting, and TTN. Only a very small proportion of +TUG members go to the annual meeting (about 140 this year), and +frankly, \BV\ is a far better deal than TTN (and similarly +for most of the other user group newsletters). Anything +important will appear in the local newsletters. So membership +of TUG will decline further, since there are no perceived +benefits. + + +Eventually the conference winds down. Christina Thiele --- +out-going (no pun intended, or even possible) President of TUG --- +makes the closing announcements, failing to thank any +of the local people who actually did make the conference work. +Let me then record a sincere vote of thanks to John Berlin and +Janet Sullivan of the TUG office, who were the `official' TUG representation, +and who held the whole thing together. Similarly, the volunteer +helpers of Suki Bhurji, Wendy Mckay and Katherine Butterfield +were indispensable. Conferences don't run themselves. +Since John is now leaving to continue his studies at UCLA +(doing a course on multimedia) he will be sorely missed at +the TUG office. + +What does next year hold? St Petersburg: the one in Florida, +not the revisionist Leningrad or Petrograd. We are promised +a hotel venue and an appeal to the publishing fraternity. +My heart sinks into the alligator infested swamps. + +I think the conference was, on the whole, good value. +It was probably too long. There is always a problem +about fitting the talks in, and thoughts are expressed that +some of the talks should not have been presented. This would +of course cut down on the overall length. I honestly +don't know. The written abstract which speakers +submit is rarely a good yardstick for selecting +the papers. The best suggestion I have heard was from Angus +Duggan, who suggested a day in which speakers had ten minutes +each to present their abstracts, then a massive set of parallel sessions +the following day(s). You choose what to go to on the basis of the +ten minute abstract. It might be worth trying. At least we +would then have some time for the informal discussions and +scheduled workshops. The venue was certainly good, the residences +were fair, the food edible, the lack of a bar was a blow, +the lecture theatre was too far away, the beach was excellent, +the sun shone relentlessly, +there were plenty meeting rooms/common rooms in the +residence, conference services tended to verge towards the non-sexist +airhead quality, the TUG helpers were overstretched. I do think +it gelled pretty well. It's the most enjoyable TUG conference I've been +to. An experience worth sharing. + + +\section{Offizin} +Whenever I pontificate about publishing with +\TeX, someone will always bring me to +earth by pointing out that the proceedings +of the 1988 \TeX\ conference in Exeter took +an interminable time to hit the bookshops. +The figure is about two years (I was busy\dots). +It was therefore a pleasant relief to +receive \emph{Offizin} earlier this year +This is a production of \textsc{Dante}, the german-speaking +\TeX\ group. It is a publication designed +to disseminate some of the lectures given +at the group's `\TeX\ days'. I +worked out just when I presented the paper which +is produced in translation: it +was February 1991. That makes the \TeX88 book +look much less laggardly! Of course, what I had to say, about +\emph{\TeX\ in Europe and America}, is hopelessly +out of date, but when it appears in my list +of publications, no-one will know that! + +Putting this schadenfreude aside, it is an +interesting volume. It should be the first in +a series, a series published by Addison Wesley +(Germany). According to other bits of Addison Wesley, +they don't do conference proceedings, so someone did +some fancy footwork to get this through. Well done. + +One quote I managed to extract was `typography +has its experts, but they have no audience'. + + +\end{Article} +\endinput +\section{A cautionary tale} +Background: I went to the \TeX\ Users Group Annual Meeting. +I taught the \LaTeXe\ course which took place +just before the meeting itself. + +Imagine the scene: the course starts at 9 on the Tuesday; I've managed +to arrive in Santa Barbara by 8.30pm on Monday, expecting to be picked +up and taken to the University (UCSB) and do a few last minute things. +At 9 o'clock the lift arrived. The first thing to do is to get copies +of the course notes. As the last bastion of the Empire, the US rarely +uses A4 paper, so although I had a paper copy of the notes on A4, I +hadn't expected to be able to copy those, and had both the source, and +a suitable \texttt{dvi} file to print out, held on both Msdos and Mac +floppies. But I didn't have a machine to print out on. The situation +was confused, but apparently the original plan had been to use +Macintoshes for the courses, but at the last moment it had been +realised that 2Mbyte Macs are not really sufficient to run \LaTeXe, +and the room had had a small network of NeXT machines installed +instead. What was not installed at that time was \TeX\ and \LaTeX, or +\LaTeXe. Fortunately my fears about a lack of A4 were unfounded and we +could copy from my originals. At least we did have the new Lamport +\LaTeX\ manual, and I was able to spend the Tuesday morning before +breakfast reading it, just in case there is something in it I hadn't +expected. There isn't. + +By the time I got to the teaching lab next day, \TeX\ and \LaTeX\ +were installed. The astute will note that I don't say that \LaTeXe\ was +installed. It wasn't. At no point do my notes use \verb+\documentstyle+, +and in fact, I've tried to eliminate all reference to the obsolete +version. Starting off by dropping back to \LaTeX2.09 was not what I +had planned. And of course there was the nagging worry of when +\LaTeXe\ would be installed. I knew it had to be, since Frank +Mittelbach and Michel Goosens were about to start their course the next day, +using the same machines. + +Naturally I start off with a spiel and then get down to hammering the +keyboards a little later. Unlike most previous TUG classes I've +taught, I had no locals who knew the system, or even a local guru to +fall back on. Thus when we came to log on we had a minor upset -- +what's the account and password? Solved by a phone call to the TUG +office. Ever used a NeXT? It's a sort of cross between a reasonable +Unix GUI and a Mac. But it was unfamiliar to all the students (and +me). The dyed in the wool Unix buff found this mouse stuff a bit +painful, and the rest of us found the command line interface lurking +below the surface just a little off-putting. But in general we managed +to cope. The NeXT comes with an excellent \TeX\ implementation from +Tom Rokicki with a good previewer and \textsf{dvips}. It's a fair +\TeX\ engine, although perhaps a shade slow by current standards, but +adequate for teaching. The main delays in hardware were from the +server, where the disk seemed very slow. One point of confusion to the +students was that we were all in the same account, so we had +sub-directories for each student. Sometimes people worked in the +higher directory. I would not recommend sharing the same directory in +class teaching. Of course this is the same directory that Frank \& +Michel were going to use too, with all of their class\dots + +By restructuring the order of presentation I was able +to keep away from topics which were \LaTeXe\ specific. +This was starting to become a problem on the next day, when we +still didn't have the new implementation. I had brought +the latest CTAN installation on floppy, partly anticipating +this problem. Why then didn't I just install it? +\begin{enumerate} +\item it was a set of \textsf{zip}ped MSDOS files; +\item I didn't have any root or system privileges on the server +\end{enumerate} +or why didn't I just download from CTAN? +\begin{enumerate} +\item[3] we were not on the Internet +\end{enumerate} +Eventually we did find a PC (and I had brought \textsf{pkunzip}) and +downloaded onto floppies which the NeXT could read. By this +time Frank and a local systems person arrived and they happily +spent the afternoon installing stuff. By now we are in +contention with Frank \& Michel for the use of the room. +Naturally we both want access when the class requires it, +and none of us had anticipated structuring our classes to +accommodate this sort of sharing. At least by late on the second +day we could start using \LaTeXe. Things were getting better. + +On Thursday, the system was dead. It had crashed. How do you +reboot a NeXT server system? Naturally, Unix systems people +at UCSB are techno-weenies and spend their nights doing +whatever Unix people do with their lives. They don't come in till +about 11 at the earliest. This is not good. When all else +fails, you can always try a power interrupt (\ie switch it +off and on again). Ever found the on/ off switch on a NeXT? It +is well hidden. Fortunately, John Berlin of the TUG office managed +to get things going. This eats into our lab time, with Frank \& Michel breathing +down our necks. And although I supposedly have a seminar room +in the same building, no-one seems to know where it is, exactly: +hand waving `down the corridor and up some stairs' descriptions lack +precision. + +This morning (Friday), the laser printer is out of paper. +We have a sort of arrangement with the reception desk +that they will do little gofering jobs. This seems to +fit the bill. A digression. UCSB is famous for a couple of +courses. Surfing 101 and Tanning 101 are among these. The latter +is designed for the more intellectually able. Rachel, on the desk, +was majoring in Surfing. The exchange ran approximately +as follows: +\begin{description} +\item[me:]We seem to be out of paper for the laser printer. +\item[Rachel:] Oh, really? +\item[me:] Is there a number to ring to obtain some more? +\item[Rachel:]Yes. +\item[me:]Could you do that for me? +\item[Rachel]Uh-huh. +\end{description} +She picks up phone, dials, I return to the lab. +A few minutes later she pops her head round the +door to announce that `We don't have any small paper, will +the larger size do?' +A little startled by the idea +of using the A3 equivalent, I grunted assent. +As you will probably have guessed, +we got 12 inch fan fold continuous printer paper. That's what +computers use. One of the class took over and obtained +a ream of copy paper. Simple. +The remainder of the day has few problems. By this time +I had managed to obtain a copy of the Companion, so that the +class has a chance to see what extra goodies are available. +They already have Lamport's new \LaTeX~2e (2nd edition) book, +although I had forbidden them to read it until +after the course ended. + +What lessons can be learned? The first thing that struck me was +that \LaTeXe\ is perhaps not quite as widely adopted, +or even known about, as I had anticipated. People coming on courses +are seldom TUG members, and are along either as a sort of refresher, +or to add to their existing `document processing' skills. I had +some secretarial staff and some editorial staff (and a sort of overviewer). +They are not mainstream \TeX ies who read \texttt{comp.text.tex}, or TTN, +and far less \TUB. Most of them would be going back to a \LaTeX2.09 +installation, although I hope I gave them enough impetus to +get their systems people to install \LaTeXe. +We really have to push information about \LaTeXe\ out more +widely. + +It does help to have liaison at hand. And to have someone +come and check that all is well each morning. In an ideal world, +the logging on/ password, NeXT familiarisation, +the system crash or the paper shortage would have +been but minor hiccups. + +The small class size (about 7) was a boon. I reckon it takes four +days to get through my course. Thanks to the ease of use of the NeXT, +the keyboard skills of the class (and their general computer +familiarity), and the small class size, I think we could have +trimmed that down to three and a half. The problem is always +getting round each member of the class. If you spend 5 minutes +with each, a class of twelve takes an hour to get round. Simple +arithmetic. +Extra exercises for the swift are useful. It gives you something +to absorb their enthusiasm, while allowing the slower members to +concentrate on reinforcing the essentials. + +Sharing a lab reduces flexibility and requires that you plan things +much more carefully. Knowing the requirement in advance helps. + +Ensure that the class eat together. This sounds weird, but let me +explain. Some of the class did not live in the residences on campus. +Their course fee did not cover lunch. Therefore they had to go and eat +somewhere else. They didn't then know when the rest of us were +heading back, and this could delay starting the afternoon session. A +small point, but it all adds or subtracts to the smooth running of the +class. After all, these people pay good money to come on this course, +we have to ensure they get a fair deal. + + |