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From: lacey@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (John Lacey)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: a word-processor for UNIX
Message-ID: <8484@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Date: 24 Jul 89 21:36:58 GMT
References: <20306@adm.BRL.MIL> <26558@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <8467@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <26567@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <1552@garcon.cso.uiuc.edu>
Reply-To: lacey@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (John Lacey)
Organization: Cornell Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Lines: 34

In article <1552@garcon.cso.uiuc.edu> mcclaren@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu.UUCP (Tim McClarren) writes:
>In article <8467@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> lacey@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (John Lacey) writes:
>>
>>Perhaps a rough analogy with cameras might be drawn.  More point-and-shoot
>>cameras will be designed and sold than high end Nikon, Canon, Haselblad
>>(sp?) machines and more people will process their film at K-Mart than at
>>custom labs.  Nevertheless, virtually all who work professionally will
>>stick with the generally harder to use high end equipment.
>
>But then why is it that more and more I pick up a book, flip through a couple
>of pages, and lo & behold, there it is right alongside the copyright and
>Lib. of Congress info -- "This book written and typeset with a Macintosh II
>and Microsoft Word" or some such?  I dunno...maybe I read too much popular
>lit./media, but I've not seen a whole lot of "This book written under vi, and 
>typeset with LaTeX/*roff on Bob & Jim's UNIX(c) box."  

Two things.  First, I didn't write that, though I do think the example is
a good one, and I might wish I had written it.  Which brings us, of course,
to your criticisms of the statement.  Well, I don't why you are seeing 
more books printed with M-word Word, because I'm not.  I own narry a one
of them, whereas I own 7 books that used {La,AMS-,Plain }TeX, and I've 
seen several more.  I think you are right, that perhaps you aren't reading
high enough quality books [ 2/3 :-) ].

Also, and this is pure speculation on my part, perhaps you are not reading
the _back_ pages, as half of my TeXed books inform me that they were so
typeset at the end, rather than the beginning.  Just a thought.

Cheers,


-- 
John Lacey                      |     cornell!batcomputer!lacey
lacey@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu    |     lacey@crnlthry.bitnet