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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 |
commit | e0c6872cf40896c7be36b11dcc744620f10adf1d (patch) | |
tree | 60335e10d2f4354b0674ec22d7b53f0f8abee672 /usergrps/uktug/baskervi/5_4/glean.tex |
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diff --git a/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/5_4/glean.tex b/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/5_4/glean.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..bd0a2dfba3 --- /dev/null +++ b/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/5_4/glean.tex @@ -0,0 +1,177 @@ +\newcommand{\sgml}{\textsc{sgml}} +\newcommand{\mime}{\textsc{Mime}} + +\title{Malcolm's Gleanings} +\author{Malcolm Clark} +\begin{Article} +\section{Indefatigable} +There hardly seems a month goes by when I do not pick up a journal or magazine +with an article by one of \LaTeX's most indefatigable proselytisers, Allan +Reese. This month it was \textit{Axis} (a rather specialised journal for +`Academic Computing and Information Systems'). In a rather fetchingly titled +article, `!`Hoja! Herr B\"oll, \c Ca va?' he champions the use of \LaTeX\ as a +suitable medium for email in order to accommodate all those annoying foreign +languages which have accents. Well, we've been here before, but it is +still good to see Allan determinedly and relentlessly spreading the word. An +accolade to that man. + +\section{Synchronicity} +In the last \BV\ I extolled \textsc{Gut}enberg and their +\textit{Cahiers}, noting that their next volume would be on character +coding. This volume arrived on my desk a week or so ago. It began with +a brief \textit{In memoriam} to Cathy Booth. Cathy attended several of +the early \textsc{Gut}enberg meetings, and had many friends in the +french-speaking \TeX\ community. It was a very thoughtful and touching +gesture to dedicate the volume to her. A similar event was perpetuated +at the TUG conference, where Sebastian Rahtz presented a prize for +best paper to T.~V.~Raman in her name. Personally, I can think of few +people more worthy than T.~V.\ to receive any sort of prize -- and on top +of that, he's a really nice person. + +\section{\mime} +Our out going and retiring chair, Chris Rowley, points out that +\texttt{x-dvi} is already a \mime\ type. In theory this should mean +that you can include a \texttt{dvi} file with an email message and the +recipient will be able to read it. I'd be reluctant to contemplate +this outside the arcane world of Unix. In any case, what I had in mind +was to have a simple viewer which exploited Adobe's Multiple Master +fonts, rather than (say) Computer Modern. It would be interesting to +know if this \mime\ type is used in real life, or whether it merely +represents good intentions. In passing, it was serendipitous that the +last \BV\ was printed in Adobe Minion, one of the two main Multiple +Master fonts. But at least it almost demonstrated that \LaTeX\ and +Multiple Masters can co-exist. + + +\section{What I did on my summer hols} +I've stopped going to international \TeX\ conferences, and I no longer +do much \TeX\ or \LaTeX\ teaching (the former on moral and ethical +grounds: those and the fact that you have to tell your audience to +suspend disbelief for the first morning: ``you do \textit{what}?''), +but I was inveigled into giving a course on \LaTeXe, the only true +\LaTeX, in Malaysia. Imagine bringing latex to Malaysia. It is an +ironic footnote that the rubber plantations there are being cut down, +or the timber being used for wood, rather than for the harvesting of +latex. This course turned out to be one of the most enjoyable that I +have taught. Besides the pleasure of teaching a really nice bunch of +people (and by and large, \TeX ies tend to be in that +category% +%\footnote{Having said that, a few cronies were trying to +% decide just who are the really, really nice, but not boring, \TeX\ +% people. We only managed Don Knuth, T V Raman, Tom Rokicki and Nelson +% Beebe. Much more difficult than 10 famous Belgians.} +) this was +virtually the first time I have had access to teaching facilities +where I didn't have to waste half the first day teaching people how to +use the operating system and its interaction with \TeX. I had two +teaching rooms: one with pc\TeX\ for Windows, the other with +\textit{Textures} 1.7.5. Since I had to do a little of the software +installation (pc\TeX, for example, doesn't come with all the bits and +pieces I might have expected), I can also vouch for the relative +robustness and ease of the installations. pc\TeX\ is only a couple of +years behind \textit{Textures} -- \iec where \textit{Textures} was +maybe two or three years ago. They should almost catch up within a +year or so. Naturally there is a catch: both these implementations +cost money. Since I now have copies of both these implementations I'll +say more about their limitations and ease of use at some future point, +but the issue here is that some of the pain and difficulty of learning +\LaTeX\ was removed `at a a stroke' by the availability of a +responsive and easy to use point and click version of \TeX. + +Naturally, since the predominant language of Malaysia, Melayu (or +Bahasa Malay) is not English, they wanted \LaTeX\ to reflect the +difference. Fortunately it is a Latin script and they had the very +great sense to spell it phonetically, with no accents. One difficulty +is that many words form their plural by doubling the word, separated +by a hyphen: \egc it is as if the plural of sheep were sheep-sheep. +Fine, but how will \TeX\ hyphenate this? The answer is that it won't. +By default, \TeX\ does not add hyphens to words which already contain +a hyphen. That's one of the reasons that the Cork encoding has a +`link-hyphen'. With eight bit encoding, therefore, it can be done. +The other problem, of language localisation (turning `Appendix' to +`Lampiran' or `Contents' to `Kandungan') was wonderfully easy thanks +to Babel. In there you will find \texttt{bahasa.dtx}. This is a +language conversion which claims to handle Bahasa, which is closer to +an Indonesian `dialect' of Malay. I gained a lot of kudos from a quick +hack of what will become \texttt{melayu.dtx}. There really is lots to +be said, not just for \LaTeXe, but the comprehensive installation +which accompanies it. + +\section{When shall I rebuild \LaTeXe?} +Since \LaTeXe\ pops up every six months now, there is an interesting question +developing: when should you download it from the archive and rebuild your +installation?. There is no point taking it as soon as it is released, since you +know that the first patch will be released about 26 hours after the +announcement. Experience seems to indicate that patch level 3 represents +\LaTeXe\ approaching its asymptote. Having said that, I couldn't build that +patch level on my Mac (despite everything I said earlier\dots). + +\section{\etex\ escapes} +\etex, the first stage in a new improved (but not called) \TeX\ has +been sort of released. DOS versions were distributed at the TUG +conference in St Petersburg Beach. There are also unconfirmed rumours +that a VMS Alpha version is lurking somewhere south of the Thames. But +what is it all for? Can anyone point me to a description of the real +and tangible benefits which will accrue from its adoption? I know how +the committee structure works, and who does the work, thanks to Phil +Taylor's \TUB\ notes, but I don't yet know what real world +typesetting problems it will solve, at a stroke. + +\section{The empty vessel} +\dots giveth a greater sound than the full +barrel\footnote{\textit{John Lyly}, 1579, Euphues, the Anatomy of + Wit.}. Goodbye special directors: having been implicated in the +creation of TUG's special directors\footnote{\textit{one} of the + allegations of my influence on TUG which is based in fact.}, it's +good to see that TUG has now dispensed with them. The special +directors were the chairs or presidents (in the case of those whose +boots grew) of the `older' European users groups. When they were +adopted onto the TUG Board it was a useful way to try to redress the +very strong US-ocentric focus which TUG had. Now I hear that the +Americans are complaining that TUG is a European dominated +organisation which just happens to have its headquarters in San +Francisco (this week). + +Barbara Beeton's hold on \TUB\ has been reduced. It will have been +obvious that one of TUG's major problems, and one of the reasons its +membership has fallen to unsustainable levels, has been the persistent +non-appearance of \TUB. Some of the responsibility for this has to +laid at the feet of Barbara (one of the nicest people I could ever +hope to meet, whose knowledge of \TeX\ is legendary, whose standards +are Knuth-like, and whose skills in the art of delegation are +limited). The production of \TUB\ will now be based in Florida. +Editorial matters remain within Barbara's +control. Incoming President Michel Goossens has placed the production +of \TUB\ as a top priority for TUG. + +As predicted, Florida was hot and sweaty. Some say it was the +sweatiest on record, but I guess they didn't go partying in the flesh +pots of Santa Barbara. Mind you, not much partying went on at St +Petersburg Beach -- and no bowling.\footnote{\emph{Clearly Malcolm's sources + did not tell him about the `Three Dancing \TeX xies', Tom Rokicki, + Petr Sojka and Michael Cohen --- Editor}} + +Just as this column was the first to reveal that Michel Goossens (of +the \LaTeX\ \textit{Companion} fame) was to be the next TUG President, +it can also reveal that Sebastian Rahtz is the new Secretary, +Mimi Jett Treasurer and the startling Judy Johnson is +Vice-President (she startled me!). With the Rahtz--Goossens dynamic +duo at the helm we can expect some interesting developments at TUG. At +the very least, \TUB\ should start to appear regularly. + +You may wonder how Sebastian manages to accomplish so much. A +carefully inspection of his name is revealing: S.~P.~Q.~Rahtz. Not +many people realise that this is actually a shorthand alias for three +people, S., P.\ and Q.\ Rahtz. Sebastian is merely the public face of +this triumvirate. There is no other rational explanation. QED + +Another of S.\ or P.\ or Q.\ Rahtz' good ideas was auctioning off signed +Knuth books to raise money for the Euro\TeX\ bursary. This was made +easier by the presence of Don Knuth to sign the books, and Addison +Wesley's generosity in donating them. But what a good idea; and what a +worthy cause. +% As long as no-one withdrew their money on hearing that +%the money was already assigned\footnote{an obscure, scurrilous and +% unjustified reference to \textsc{Dante} who did something very +% similar.}. +\end{Article}
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