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+%\newcommand{\TUB}{\textsc{Tug}boat}
+%\newcommand{\BV}{\textsl{Baskerville}}
+
+\title{Malcolm's Gleanings}
+\author{Malcolm Clark\\\texttt{m.clark@warwick.ac.uk}}
+
+\begin{Article}
+\newcommand{\dvi}{\texttt{dvi}}
+\newcommand{\Gut}{\textsl{Cahiers \textsc{Gut}enberg}}
+
+%\iffalse
+\section{Out of \MF\ comes forth riches}
+Dougie Henderson, who some may recall as the author of the first
+practical implementation of \MF\ for the PC (marketed by Personal \TeX),
+who worked with Blue Sky Research for several years (the creators of
+\textsl{Textures}, still the finest implementation of \TeX\ on a
+personal machine, and a version of \MF\ for the Mac), and who was a
+member of the TUG board for many years, left the \TeX\ world a few years
+ago to brew beer. Microbreweries are a hot item in the US: Dougie's
+brewery \textsl{Hair of the Dog} won a rather coveted award for its
+\textsl{Adambier} -- described as `A very full bodied, ``take no
+prisoners'' beer'. The \textsl{Malt Advocate Awards Program} selects
+outstanding products and individuals in the beer and whisky industries.
+\textsl{Hair of the Dog} won `Domestic Beer of the Year': to give you
+some idea of their level and appropriateness, their `Import Whisky of
+the Year' was a 16-year old \textsl{Lagavulin} (by coincidence a
+distillery Dougie and I visited in 1993), the `Import beer of the year'
+the wonderful Belgian \textsl{Duvel}, and for the `Industry Leader' they
+chose Michael Jackson, who has probably done more than any other
+individual to spread the word of fine malt whisky and `craft' beers. I
+think this gives hope to us all: there \emph{is} life after \TeX!
+
+%\fi
+
+%\iffalse
+\section{Indefatigable}
+Readers of the \textsl{Times Higher Education Supplement} will have seen
+that Allan Reese continues his guerilla war of attrition on the
+detractors of \TeX.
+In the January edition of the \textsl{Multimedia} supplement
+he comments on an article in the December supplement, correcting some
+misunderstandings and misapprehensions. Another accolade to that man.
+%\fi
+
+\iffalse
+\section{Spoiled for choice}
+Of course, there is much to be done. I picked up a copy of a self-styled
+Internet book in Dillon's CyberStation the other day, to be told that
+\LaTeX\ was a Unix utility. With what confidence can I approach the rest
+of this book?
+\fi
+
+\section{Guesting}
+It was pointed out that there were no gleanings in \BV\ 5(5) because I
+was busy trying to knock an edition of \TUB\ into shape. As part of
+Michel Goossens' scheme to revitalise TUG, it was thought imperative to
+try to get \TUB\ appearing regularly, if not on time. One ploy was to
+invite (or instruct) `guest editors', thus relieving the usual crew from
+some of the work, and perhaps achieving the throughput needed.
+
+I still believe in the Internet (an act of faith, on a par with
+religion -- like \TeX\ itself). But my faith was a little shaken by the
+experience. Since I do not have all the various macros, classes and
+paraphernalia on my local machine (far less my machine at home), I
+decided to do most of the editing locally, FTP it to the \TUB\ machine
+at SCRI in Florida, use the installation there, ship the \dvi\ back by
+FTP and view or print locally.
+This strategy at least ensured that I was using the same files that
+would be run by the editorial team for the finished copy. It also
+ensured that I minimised network traffic. Text files are not too large,
+and \dvi\ is also fairly compact. I had found that trying to edit over
+the Internet, though possible, was painful. Even a rather dumb,
+efficient, editor like \texttt{vi} could get badly out of
+synchronisation. It was far easier to edit locally. Maybe it really took
+the same amount of lapsed time, when you include the transfers, but the
+wear and tear on my nerves was minimised. However, despite all this, I
+still found that the only practical times to do the work was either
+Saturday morning up to about~1 or~2 in the afternoon, or Sunday mornings
+up to a similar time. The melt-down or brown out of the Internet seems
+to hit about lunch time GMT, even at weekends. Sigh.
+
+However, the edition was eventually completed to my satisfaction.
+There were a few page breaks that could have been improved, but given
+the complexity of the problem, with lots of floating figures (always the
+bane of \LaTeX), I was quite happy. I would have liked to impose my own
+stamp on it by adopting ragged right throughout, but it is a rather
+awkward interposition, especially for a periodical which has been
+`designed' for justified margins. You just cannot be sure that ragged
+right will be appropriate in all circumstances. To do that you need to
+redesign from scratch, the way the previous guest edited
+\TUB\footnote{Volume 7(1), guest edited by David Kellerman and Barry
+Smith, designed by Martha Gannett} was. Now I appreciate just how
+excellent that edition was, although I was dubious of the design when I
+first saw it, before my appreciation and understanding of the issues
+matured.
+
+It is interesting to ask what a guest editor does. I don't know
+that I had a very clear brief. I decided first to assemble the papers,
+using some which had been submitted to the annual conference, a couple
+which had appeared elsewhere (in \BV\ and \Gut) and another I
+invited. Between them I think this gave a reasonable balance, though I
+was very conscious that there were some areas that needed to be filled
+out more. My early plan had been to ensure that these articles hung
+together, referred to one another appropriately,
+were consistent in tone, used much the same acronyms and logos. In other
+words, that they blended together in terms of their appearance, if not
+the message of the individuals' writing. Then I discovered I should
+worry about line and page breaks -- how it would appear in \TUB. This is
+easily the most time-consuming part. Introducing deliberate breaks has a
+tendency to alter everything that comes after; and you must also run all
+the articles together since in standard \TUB\ form the next article
+starts when the previous one ends. They don't start at the top of a new
+page. In the end I was shipping the entire \dvi\ file across the `fat
+pipe'. The front matter, end matter and page headings were the
+responsibility of the rest of the editorial team. After all, I didn't
+know how much front matter there was and couldn't predict page
+numbers. That appears to have been the source of a problem. Somehow,
+when the \TUB\ came to be printed it had the headers at the same
+position on each page. Normally they would be left- and right-page
+oriented. I doubt that many people would have noticed this, or, if
+they had, they would have assumed that it was a design
+quirk. Unfortunately Barbara Beeton saw fit to announce it loudly to the
+world as a flaw. The edition took several months from my `finishing' it
+to going to print. It seems to have been thoroughly re-edited by what
+was once termed the \textsc{Gnaw}.\footnote{Only a small prize for the
+first correct expansion of this scurrilous and sexist acronym.} The
+irony is that it was just this process which Michel sought to
+eliminate. One suspects that there are mightier forces of conservatism
+and inertia arrayed against him than he knows. Sigh.
+
+It has been interesting to read the several accounts of the expected
+rescheduling of \TUB. Compare the following:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+16(1): ``You will receive 16(2) and 16(3) before the end of the calendar
+year;
+the December issue, 16(4) will be out in early 1996.''
+\item
+16(2): ``\dots\ the last issue of 1995\dots\ you will hopefully receive
+it in the first half of January.''
+\item
+16(3): ``\dots four \TUB's on our member's desks before Christmas 1995''
+(i.e.\ 15(4) to 16(3)). In passing, some attention to the use of
+the apostrophe is needed here, unless we really do have only one member.
+I personally would worry more about grammar than running heads.
+\end{itemize}
+I received 16(2) in December or so, and 16(3) arrived in the first
+week of January (so a very close miss): 16(4)?
+Over to you Michel.
+
+\iffalse
+\section{TUG on course?}
+My feelings on TUG are rather ambivalent. I served on the Board for many
+years, and for one I filled the post of President. I have seen it from
+the inside, and, with other members of TUG, tried hard to ensure that it
+would proceed along a path which could ensure its survival. The slimming
+down of the permanent staff and the greater role of volunteers were some
+of the issues we tackled. Times have changed. TUG is only one \TeX\ user
+group among many. \TUB\ went badly off course (I wanted it to become a
+regular commercial journal with wider interests, and in fact could have
+achieved that but for some conservative elements close to \TUB\
+itself). The change in world politics meant that there were increased
+demands for TUG to expend resource in promoting \TeX\ in areas where
+there was unlikely to be any return in increased membership. The whining
+from some European groups made many long-serving US members believe that
+TUG should indeed be a US user group, just to be rid of this continuous
+self-seeking. The distribution of the annual conference (which, to some
+extend had helped support TUG financially) to forays into Europe eroded
+the financial base slightly. The increased expectation that you should
+get everything for free cannot help the vendors who have subsidised and
+supported \TeX\ activity: just count up the advertisements in \TUB. The
+fingers of one hand should be enough.
+Fortunately the ludicrous demands to print \TUB\ in Eastern Europe and
+almost give it away were never enacted. That would have been a rapid
+route to ruin.
+
+The current low number of members worries me. The organisation seems to
+be below a viable level. The conferences attract relatively few people
+and I conclude they are largely irrelevant to the majority of members
+and \TeX\ users -- or at least, that their needs are being met
+elsewhere. Do people join just for the delight of \TUB? I think I have a
+fairly broad interest in the subject, but most of \TUB\ leaves me cold
+(with the exception of 16(2), of course!). I applaud Michel's vision for
+the future, and I know he has the support of the redoubtable and
+energetic Sebastian Rahtz. I'm less convinced that their efforts are
+understood by the other office bearers or the permanent staff. As I
+recall from my own period of office, even the best intentions can be
+frustratingly difficult to achieve. Time, I think, to follow Dougie's
+example and tend my fruggles.
+\fi
+
+\end{Article}
+
+
+
+