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author | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2011-11-02 22:51:17 +0000 |
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committer | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2011-11-02 22:51:17 +0000 |
commit | 6f714441a5f4ecd5bc220e2f50cc98472bc079d0 (patch) | |
tree | c82791cc9234223333f0ad5ba4712aa7f0d4286f /Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex | |
parent | e5cd5f13085b6988a96d8e68ac5b703be949ad24 (diff) |
uk-tex-faq 3.24 (1nov11)
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@24465 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex')
-rw-r--r-- | Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-backgrnd.tex | 133 |
1 files changed, 110 insertions, 23 deletions
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} |