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authorKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2011-11-02 22:51:17 +0000
committerKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2011-11-02 22:51:17 +0000
commit6f714441a5f4ecd5bc220e2f50cc98472bc079d0 (patch)
treec82791cc9234223333f0ad5ba4712aa7f0d4286f /Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex
parente5cd5f13085b6988a96d8e68ac5b703be949ad24 (diff)
uk-tex-faq 3.24 (1nov11)
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@24465 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 2b1853c9fa8..60219017103 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 1.27 2011/09/03 18:56:20 rf10 Exp $
+% $Id: faq-backgrnd.tex,v 1.29 2011/10/02 20:13:05 rf10 Exp rf10 $
\section{The Background}
@@ -189,10 +189,14 @@ A mailing list discussing \MP{} is available;
\href{http://lists.tug.org/metapost}{\acro{TUG} \ProgName{mailman} interface}.
\end{hyperversion}
The \acro{TUG} website also hosts a % ! line break
-\href{http://tug.org/metapost.html}{\MP{} summary page}.
+\href{http://tug.org/metapost.html}{\MP{} summary page}, and the
+\Package{tex-overview} document gives you a lot more detail (and some
+explanatory background material).
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[tex-overview.pdf]\CTANref{tex-overview}
+\end{ctanrefs}
\LastEdit{2011-09-01}
-%****
\Question[Q-texthings]{Things with ``\TeX{}'' in the name}
New \TeX{} users are often baffled by the myriad terms with ``\TeX{}''
@@ -251,9 +255,8 @@ that you are likely to encounter:
See
\Qref[questions]{Books on \TeX{} and its relations}{Q-latex-books},
\Qref[]{\AllTeX{} Tutorials, etc.}{Q-tutorials*},
- \Qref[]{Online introductions: \LaTeX{}}{Q-man-latex},
- \Qref[]{Specialized \AllTeX{} tutorials}{Q-tutbitslatex} and
- \Qref[]{Directories of \AllTeX{} information}{Q-doc-dirs}.
+ \Qref[]{Online introductions: \LaTeX{}}{Q-man-latex} and
+ \Qref[]{Specialized \AllTeX{} tutorials}{Q-tutbitslatex}.
Note that there have been two major versions of \LaTeX{}: \LaTeXe{}
refers to the current version of \LaTeX{} while \LaTeXo{} is the
long-since-obsolete (since 1994) version (cf.~%
@@ -271,7 +274,10 @@ that you are likely to encounter:
\ProgName{texi2dvi} and \ProgName{texi2pdf}) produce one of \TeX{}'s
usual output formats such as \acro{DVI} or \acro{PDF}. Because
\ProgName{tex} loads the Plain \TeX{} macros, not the Texinfo ones,
- a Texinfo document must begin with \cmdinvoke{input}{texinfo} to
+ a Texinfo document must begin with
+ \begin{quote}
+ \csx{input}\texttt{ texinfo}
+ \end{quote}
explicitly load the Texinfo macro package.
\item[\Eplain{}~--- Extended Plain \TeX{} (executable: \ProgName{eplain})]
@@ -358,7 +364,9 @@ other goodies the distributor chooses to include.
Commonly encountered \TeX{} distributions include \texlive{},
\miktex{} and Mac\TeX{}; older ones include oz\TeX{},
-\acro{CM}ac\TeX{} and te\TeX{}.
+\acro{CM}ac\TeX{} and te\TeX{}. \miktex{} is also available as the
+basis of the Pro\TeX{}t bundle, distributed on the \texlive{}
+\acro{DVD} mailing, as well as being available online.
Some \TeX{} distributions target a specific operating system and/or
processor architecture; others run on multiple platforms. Many \TeX{}
@@ -378,7 +386,97 @@ name like ``blah\tex{}''.
The subject matter covered by this answer is also addressed in a page
on the \acro{TUG} site, % ! line break
``\href{http://tug.org/levels.html}{the Levels of \tex{}}''.
-\LastEdit{2011-06-01}
+\LastEdit{2011-09-26}
+
+\Question[Q-ctan]{What is \acro{CTAN}?}
+
+The acronym stands for ``Comprehensive \tex{} Archive Network'', which
+more-or-less specifies what it's \emph{for}:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item The aim is to offer a comprehensive collection of \tex{} resources.
+\item The content is to be made publicly accessible, via the internet.
+\item \acro{CTAN} is a \emph{network} of archives, which strive to
+ stay in step with one another.
+\end{itemize}
+The basic framework was developed by a \acro{TUG} working group set up
+to resolve the (then existing) requirement for users to \emph{know} on
+which archive site a particular package might be found.
+
+Actual implementation offers three distinct types of host:
+\begin{description}
+\item[\emph{Core} archives]Which form a small, tightly-coupled set of
+ machines, which perform management functions as well as serving
+ files, and
+\item[\emph{Mirror} archives]Which do no more than take regular copies
+ of core archives.
+\item[Archive selector]Which is a meta-service, which routes requests
+ to an apparently ``local'' source (mirror or archive).
+\end{description}
+Note that there is nothing to prevent any archive from supporting
+other functions, so a \acro{CTAN} mirror may also operate as a
+\acro{CPAN} (Perl) mirror and as a SourceForge (general free software)
+mirror, and \dots{}
+
+Functions that distinguish core archives are:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Uploads: users may submit new (or updated) material, and
+ significant changes to the archive are reported via the mailing list
+ \Email{ctan-ann@dante.de}
+\item Weak consistency: changes to the content of the archives are
+ rapidly distributed to all core archives.
+\item Providing distribution (\texlive{} and \miktex{}) support.
+\item Catalogue maintenance.
+\item Mirror monitoring.
+\end{itemize}
+Not all core archives offer all of these functions.
+
+Users may contact the maintainers of the core archives via the mailing
+list \mailto{ctan@dante.de}
+
+Users who have new material for the archive may submit it using the
+\href{http://dante.ctan.org/upload/}{German} or
+\href{http://www.tex.ac.uk/upload/}{UK} archive.
+
+Users should ordinarily download material from \acro{CTAN} via the
+\href*{http://mirror.ctan.org/}{archive selector}: this uses the
+mirror monitor's database, and uses the caller's geographical location to
+offer an efficient choice of ``sufficiently up-to-date'' mirror site for
+you to connect to. Note that all the download links, given in the web
+representation of these \acro{FAQ}s, are set up to use the mirror
+selector.
+\LastEdit*{2011-04-21}
+
+\Question[Q-catalogue]{The (\acro{CTAN}) catalogue}
+
+Finding stuff on networks was always difficult, but in recent years,
+search engines have become amazingly good at digging out unconsidered
+trifles from the myriad items of information available on the net.
+
+Sadly, in the \tex{} context, search engines seem to excel in locating
+out-of-date material, while the service users need a means of finding
+relevant material on \acro{CTAN}~--- on the grounds that such material
+is most likely to be up-to-date. The need to find such items, thus
+alleviating tendency to end up with out-of-date \alltex{} material,
+was the motivation for developing a specialised information source:
+the \acro{CTAN} catalogue. The aim is that they contain enough
+relevant information that they will appear early in a search engine's
+evaluation.
+
+The basis of the catalogue is a collection of small
+articles; each shows basic information about a package on \acro{CTAN},
+and includes pointers to download address, documentation and related
+packages. Every \acro{CTAN} mirror holds a copy of the catalogue,
+presented as a series of web pages; indexes (both alphabetic and
+category-based) are provided.
+
+The core \acro{CTAN} sites also offer a simple text search of the
+catalogue. This is a tolerable means of finding a package you need,
+but it is not really a substitute for a good information retrieval
+system: the problem of providing such a system has not yet been solved.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}The CTAN catalogue]\CTANref{Catalogue}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit*{2011-05-19}
\Question[Q-triptrap]{How can I be sure it's really \TeX{}?}
@@ -1004,8 +1102,7 @@ conference, whose proceedings are published in \textsl{TUGboat}.
resource for all sorts of
\TeX{}-related matters, such as details of \TeX{} software, and lists
of \TeX{} vendors and \TeX{} consultants. Back articles from
-\textsl{TUGboat} are slowly (subject to copyright issues, etc.\@)
-making their way to the site, too.
+\textsl{TUGboat} are also available.
Some time ago, \acro{TUG} established a ``technical council'', whose
task was to oversee the development of \TeX{}nical projects. Most
@@ -1038,15 +1135,5 @@ too; \acro{TUG}'s web site maintains a list of
\href{http://www.tug.org/lugs.html}{``local user groups'' (\acro{LUG}s)}.
\end{htmlversion}
-Contact \acro{TUG} itself via:
-\begin{quote}
- \TeX{} Users Group\\
- 1466 NW Front Avenue, Suite 3141\\
- Portland, OR 97209\\
- \acro{USA}\\[.25\baselineskip]
- Tel: +1 503-223-9994\\
- Fax: +1 503-223-3960\\
- Email: \mailto{tug@mail.tug.org}\\
- Web: \URL{http://www.tug.org/}
-\end{quote}
-
+Contact \acro{TUG} itself via \URL{http://tug.org/contact}
+LastEdit{2011-09-19}