From: Hugh Sasse Staff Elec Eng <hgs@...>
Date: 2000-07-14T11:08:19+01:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:04003] Re: OT: Re: P. of least effort -- fragile typesetters

On Thu, 13 Jul 2000, Conrad Schneiker wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Andrew Hunt wrote:
> 
> > On a side note, another axis of language comparisons might
> > be something like "volatility", in the sense of "how bad do things
> > get when I make a typo".
> >
> > On that axis, LaTex and C++ are very volatile (perhaps even chaotic? :-)
> > languages.
> 
> Good ol' LaTex. Fragile tools, brittle systems, and passive-aggressive
> software are terms that come to mind.

Note OT in the subject line:

So what would you recommend for producing documents, papers etc?
Having wrestled with Word, Star Office, eqn|tbl|troff,  and hand crafted
PostScript drawings (ouch!), I'd be interested.  Is Lout flexible enough?
Feel free to email me off list as this is so off topic.  I cannot find
much out there that can be converted to the formats people want, and
is highly recommended for this task.

	Hugh
	hgs@dmu.ac.uk