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authorKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2010-04-07 22:47:28 +0000
committerKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2010-04-07 22:47:28 +0000
commit3f1971c9b7717818766692c9aa497e20e7472f2c (patch)
tree678de0190b6643b1b21fd9441fa1387bce180726 /Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex
parentc7c3b090320a234149dbe23315e2a15a2773ac79 (diff)
FAQ-en 3.19d (7apr10)
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@17742 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex
index 9719b0ad108..3612c0209ed 100644
--- a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex
+++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-% $Id: faq-backgrnd.tex,v 1.2 2009/12/10 20:38:28 rf10 Exp $
+% $Id: faq-backgrnd.tex,v 1.5 2010/02/08 22:24:15 rf10 Exp $
\section{The Background}
@@ -26,23 +26,48 @@ Knuth developed a system of % ! line breaks
`\Qref*{literate programming}{Q-lit}' to write \TeX{},
and he provides the literate (\acro{WEB}) source of \TeX{} free of charge,
together with tools for processing the |web| source into something
-that can be compiled and something that can be printed; there's never
-any mystery about what \TeX{} does. Furthermore, the \acro{WEB} system
-provides mechanisms to port \TeX{} to new operating systems and
-computers; and in order that one may have some confidence in the ports,
-Knuth supplied a \Qref*{test}{Q-triptrap} by
+that can be compiled and something that can be printed; there is (in
+principle) never any mystery about what \TeX{} does. Furthermore, the
+\acro{WEB} system provides mechanisms to port \TeX{} to new operating
+systems and computers; and in order that one may have some confidence
+in the ports, Knuth supplied a \Qref*{test}{Q-triptrap} by
means of which one may judge the fidelity of a \TeX{} system. \TeX{}
and its documents are therefore highly portable.
+For the interested programmer, the distribution of \TeX{} has some
+fascination: it's nothing like the way one would construct such a
+program nowadays, yet it has lasted better than most, and has been
+ported to many different computer architectures and operating
+systems~--- the sorts of attributes that much modern programming
+practice aims for. The processed `readable' source of \TeX{} the
+program may be found in the % ! line break
+\begin{hyperversion}
+ \Qref*{\acro{TDS} structured version}{Q-tds} of the distribution.
+\end{hyperversion}
+\begin{dviversion}
+ \Qref*{\acro{TDS} structured version of the distribution}{Q-tds}.
+\end{dviversion}
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Knuth's source distribution]\CTANref{knuth-dist}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Knuth's sources in \acro{TDS} layout]\CTANref{knuth-tds}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+
+\Question[Q-plaintex]{What's ``writing in \TeX{}''?}
+
\TeX{} is a macro processor, and offers its users a powerful
-programming capability. For this reason, \TeX{} on its own is a
-pretty difficult beast to deal with, so Knuth provided a package of
-macros for use with \TeX{} called \plaintex{}; \plaintex{} is
-effectively the minimum set of macros one can usefully employ with
-\TeX{}, together with some demonstration versions of higher-level
-commands (the latter are better regarded as models than used as-is).
-When people say they're ``programming in \TeX{}'', they usually mean
-they're programming in \plaintex{}.
+programming capability. To produce a document, you write macros and
+text interleaved with each other. The macros define an environment in
+which the text is to be typeset.
+
+However, the basic \TeX{} engine is pretty
+basic, and is a pretty difficult beast to deal with. Recognising this
+(and not wanting to write the same things at the start of every
+document, himself) Knuth provided a package of macros for use with
+\TeX{}, called \plaintex{}; \plaintex{} is a useful minimum set of
+macros that can be used with \TeX{}, together with some demonstration
+versions of higher-level commands. When people say they're ``writing
+(or programming) in \TeX{}'', they usually mean they're programming in
+\plaintex{}.
\Question[Q-TeXpronounce]{How should I pronounce ``\TeX{}''?}
@@ -416,6 +441,9 @@ work, but not as well as on an \eTeX{} system. The % ! line break
\Qref*{\LaTeX{} team}{Q-LaTeX3} has announced that future \LaTeX{}
packages (specifically those from the team, as opposed to those
individually contributed) may require \eTeX{} for optimum performance.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\eTeX{}]\CTANref{etex}
+\end{ctanrefs}
\Question[Q-whatpdftex]{What is \PDFTeX{}?}
@@ -807,17 +835,16 @@ projects: see, for example,
%\Qref[and]{and the SGML work}{Q-SGML})
to build substantial
new macro packages based on \TeX{}. For the even longer term, there
-are various projects to build a \emph{successor} to \TeX{}; see, for example,
-the
-\begin{narrowversion}
- \LuaTeX{}, Omega/Aleph and \ExTeX{} projects (questions
-\end{narrowversion}
-\Qref[\nothtml]{\LuaTeX{}}{Q-luatex},
-\Qref[\nothtml]{Omega/Aleph}{Q-omegaleph} and
-\Qref[\nothtml]{\ExTeX{}}{Q-extex}\narrowonly{).}
-\begin{wideversion}
- projects.
-\end{wideversion}
+are various projects to build a \emph{successor} to \TeX{}. The
+\Qref*{\eTeX{}}{Q-etex} extension to \TeX{} itself arose from such a
+project (\acro{NTS}). Another pair of projects, which have delivered
+all the results they are likely to deliver, is the related % ! line break
+\Qref*{Omega and Aleph}{Q-omegaleph}. The % ! line break
+\Qref*{\xetex{} system}{Q-xetex} is in principle still under
+development, but is widely used, and the % ! line break
+\Qref*{\LuaTeX{} project}{Q-luatex} (though with another two years of
+development scheduled) has already delivered a system that is quite
+useful.
\Question[Q-readtex]{Reading \AllTeX{} files}