Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rice!sun-spots-request
From: olson@ncifcrf.gov (Arthur David Olson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Re: troff in 4.1?
Keywords: Software
Message-ID: <7413@brazos.Rice.edu>
Date: 5 May 90 23:54:42 GMT
Sender: root@rice.edu
Organization: Sun-Spots
Lines: 11
Approved: Sun-Spots@rice.edu
X-Refs:  Original: v9n142, Replies: v9n149
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 149, message 15

> > Can [nt]roff use 8-bit charactercodes now when Sunos is (almost) SYSV?

> No, unfortunately.  Nroff and troff are listed as being 8-bit dirty (SunOS
> 4.1 Release Manual, table 7-4).  They still strip the top bit on input.

And the nroff manual contains this entertaining passage under the "NOTES" head:
	nroff is not 8-bit clean because making nroff 8-bit clean would
	require rewriting the nroff internals and filters.
Seeing as nroff would already be 8-bit clean if such rewriting were not
required, the above translates into English thusly:
	nroff is not 8-bit clean because nroff is not 8-bit clean.