Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!bloom-beacon!ben_wen
From: ben_wen@W20-575-103.world (Benson Wen)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Desktop publishing for X
Message-ID: <1990Aug14.061701.26914@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 14 Aug 90 09:16:13 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Distribution: comp
Organization: /mit/ben_wen/.organization
Lines: 118

Okay here's the scoop I got when I posted this:

|> (Hmmm.  Lets see if this works.)
|>
|> I'm looking into Desktop Publishing systems that will run under X, anyone?
|>
|> (Please E-mail, since I'm a bum and don't read News enough.)
|>
|> -Benson Wen


ppblais@bcars267.UUCP (Pierre P. Blais) sez:

|>  Other people requested a post.  Well, here it goes:
|>  
|>      The Publisher runs under X11R4 (and previous) and Sun W/Ss. It may
|>  run on other platforms.  You can get more information from:
|>  
|>      ArborText Inc.
|>      535 West William St.
|>      Ann Arbor, MI 48103
|>  
|>      (313) 996-3566
|>      help@arbortext.com
|>      uunet!umix!arbortext!help
|>  

(disclamer spew deleted . . .)

|>      On the other hand, it is quite buggy although it can still be used
|>  reasonably well (the bugs don't kill what I'm doing too often).
|>  
|>      Over all, once the bugs are fixed, it should prove to be a very
|>  good product.

------------------------------------------------------------


mike@raven.uss.tek.com (Mike Ewan) has to say:

|>  In article <1990Aug10.193250.16544@bcars267> ppblais@bcars267.UUCP (Pierre P. Blais) writes:
|>  > [...]
|>  >    The Publisher is about halfway between a WYSIWYG and a tag-based

(see the stuff above . . .)
|>  How about something that isn't buggy and is FREE.  The combination of
|>  TeX and xdvi will apparently do the same thing, is solid, and free.
|>  If it's of interest TeX is also available for the DOS PC, including
|>  a nice previewer.
|>  
|>  TeX is available from labrea.stanford.edu (ftp), or via tape and mail
|>  for U of Washington.  Xdvi is available on expo or gatekeeper.dec.com.
|>  
|>  Mike


That's a good idea, except it'll never do for scanned in pix (a lot of
them . . . its for a yearbook), which is what I need it for.

------------------------------------------------------------



murthy@algron.cs.cornell.edu (Chet Murthy) mentions

(see above for recap . . .)

|>  And if you use the VorTeX Elisp macros, and structure your document so
|>  that all your definitions (e.g. \def, \newcommand, \hyphenation) are
|>  in the LaTeX prologue (i.e. before \begin{document}), VorTeX has a
|>  little function which will grab the current region in your edit
|>  buffer, slap it into a standalone LaTeX file, and LaTeX it.  So you
|>  get the ability to edit a little piece of text, and see what it looks
|>  like, on-screen, quickly (without re-formatting your entire document).
|>  
|>  It's a bit clumsy, but it gets the job done with a couple of
|>  keystrokes and a mouse click (to place the xdvi).
|>  
|>  With a little more hacking on the code it could be really transparent.



------------------------------------------------------------


and
tcs!tiger!bobmcc@uunet.UU.NET (Bob McCormick) writes:

|>I have been looking into this recently, and there are two that I
|>am somewhat familiar with: FrameMaker and Interleaf.
|>
|>FrameMaker version 1.3 is available for X now.  FrameMaker 2.1X, which has
|>a lot more features, is in Beta Test right now, and should be available
|>in September.  FrameMaker has a lot of features, a nice interface, and
|>seems not too hard to use, assuming you've worked with another DTP
|>system or something like Microsoft Word.  FrameMaker provides a great
|>demo tape, which has a fully-functional version of FM, except that "save" is
|>disabled. E-mail for more info: comments@frame.com . Address
|>Frame Technology Corporation, 1010 Rincon Circle, San Jose, CA 95131.
|>(I don't know all the platforms supported.  Sun is definite (that's what
|>I use), Apollo running DOMAIN/IX and X possible, HP probable.)
|>
|>Interleaf is not available on X at this time.  I heard January 1991 as
|>a target date (not confirmed).  Interleaf has been around longer, and is
|>more complex, and more powerful in some areas.  Interleaf's graphics editor
|>is more powerful, but harder to use for simple drawings.  Interleaf includes
|>some sort of configuration management system for its documents; I don't have
|>any details.  Interleaf runs on Apollo AEGIS/DM and Sun SunView, and others.
|>
|>I have not done a complete comparison, but I like Framemaker better.  One
|>of the tech writers in my company uses both, and he prefers FrameMaker.
|>Others are using Interleaf.
|>
|>(P.S.  FrameMaker also runs on the Macintosh, and the output files are
|>is completely transferable.)


Thanks everyone!