Re: The Problems of TeX

Hallöchen!

Rowland McDonnell writes:

Torsten Bronger <bronger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[...]

The editor is not explained at all "because one of the strengths
of LaTeX is that you can choose one". The same for the
distribution.

I'm not sure what you mean by `the same for the distribution'.

MiKTeX, TeXLive, etc.

But a failure to provide a tutorial on a particular text editor in
a LaTeX tutorial doesn't strike me as a particularly bad thing,
given that one assumes that the typical LaTeX tutorial is aimed as
`someone who can already use a computer', and given that any text
editor should have its own tutorial material.

Yes, but I think that this approach is suboptimal. My belief is
that the typical computer user -- and even the typical potential
LaTeX user -- doesn't understand the concept of a bunch of programs
that form something we call a "LaTeX system" (different TeX
compilers, editor, previewer, and a couple of other helper
applications).

The Ubuntu concept of providing *exactly one* program per purpose is
also very sensible for LaTeX, especially for the editor question.
This should be realised at least in the introductory documentation.

Of course, every tutorial author can choose their favorite team of
programs. The only important thing is that the beginner gets the
impression of a complete system that still is not more complicated
than absolutely necessary.

[...]

Who's really insterested in breaking up ligatures?

<puzzled> There are some ligatures which TeX constructs
inappropriately. There are examples in the books of occasions on
which one must take charge or the results are awful. It's one of
the downsides of having the automation that TeX provides.

After the LaTeX forum I've followed over the last year, I don't
think that users are able to produce decent printouts anyway.
Therefore, leaving out all the typographical nitpicking lets LaTeX
look easier, which is more important in my opinion. Perfectionists
will find their way to the full story themselves.

[...]

Additionally, there still is this huge amount of existing
documentation.

Indeed there is - what of it? It's very useful. It's available.

Sure. We need the complete documentation. We also need the
expert-friendly documentation. I just say that this makes it even
harder for beginners to find a good starting point.

[...]

In the LaTeX forum that I follow at the moment, the question I
wait for is "how can I move all my "i" dots 0.2mm downwards?",
coming from people with no typographical knowledge. So the only
way is to prune the features of LaTeX itself, which is not
feasible either.

<puzzled> I do not understand this either. Surely the only
sensible solution to the age-old problem of idiots is the age-old
`just try to explain things to them, and if that doesn't work,
sigh and let them get on with it?'

The problem is: They are not idiots. On the contrary. Instead,
they are the product of what you find about LaTeX on the Web and in
bookstores and libraries. Again, as the unofficial LaTeX expert in
my institute, and as one of the regulars in the local user group, I
have *never* seen a preamble of a collegue or fellow student of
physics or engineering that was not overloaded, obsolete, and simply
incorrect.

Tschö,
Torsten.

--
Torsten Bronger, aquisgrana, europa vetus
Jabber ID: bronger@xxxxxxxxxx
(See http://ime.webhop.org for further contact info.)
.

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