Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!wuarchive!udel!mmdf From: @utrcgw.utc.com:mark@ardnt1 (mark) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: TeX versions for Amiga Message-ID: <32880@nigel.ee.udel.edu> Date: 9 Oct 90 14:42:47 GMT Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu Lines: 120 I am forwarding the answer of our local expert. If you have any questions, you can send Email to me or directly to Ray. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mark Stucky | Email: | | United Technologies Research Center | mark%ardnt1@utrcgw.utc.com | | East Hartford, CT. | MAST%UTRC@utrcgw.utc.com | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ on Tue, 9 Oct 90 09:04 EDT, "William R(ay) Brohinsky" said: on 8 Oct 90 15:46:45 GMT,Robert Huebner said: Robert> In article <2252@wn1.sci.kun.nl>, vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl (Freddy Aries) writes: Robert> |> I am quite new to the TeX scene, and I heard about the TeX Robert> |> versions for the Amiga. I heard there is AmigaTeX (commercial), Robert> |> CommonTeX, TeX 3.0 and PasTeX. Could anybody please explain Robert> |> to me what the differences between these versions are (reviews Robert> |> would be appreciated). Robert> I'd like to add one thing to this question: Is there a version Robert> of LaTeX out for the Amiga? The only reason I ask is because we Robert> use it here on Suns, but if one of the others (AmigaTeX, PasTeX, Robert> etc.) is better, I'll gladly switch. Robert> huebner@aerospace.aero.org Robert> The Aerospace Corporation Great Iguanas! What a question! (Hopefully, the answer will be equal to it!) First off, Freddy, I am a user of AmigaTeX and TeX on Vaxen and Unix systems. I find that the AmigaTeX is the equal in most ways and better in some to the VAX systems' TeX, and likewise the UNIX systems' TeX. The METAFONT previewer beats X-windows' previewer by hours, and in no case has Tom Rokicki skimped on the implementation. I highly recommend it. heubner@aerospace.aero.org: (sorry, I edited out your first name too quickly) LaTeX is a macro for TeX. That means that if you have the file lplain.tex and an executable initex, you can make a lplain.fmt file, which is called by tex &lplain Note: TeX is only a small part of what the TeXbook describes: another 600 operators come from using plain.tex with initex to create plain.fmt which is called similarly with tex to make TeX. Thus, you can get TeX by starting with plain.fmt, LaTeX by starting with lplain.tex, and AMStex by starting with a format file made from the amstex macro file, and etex consists of tex run with the plain.fmt and adding eplain.tex (the macro file by Karl Berry which is introduced in the book `TeX for the Impatient'). These are all macros, and while plain, lplain, and the AMS macro are designed to typeset specific formats, (well, maybe not plain.tex), eplain.tex is a macro which contains macros that make writing more macros easier... Also, for LaTeX, you will require the font metric files that correspond to the LaTeX fonts. CMR12 is an example: this is a 12-point Computer Modern Roman which is used by the [12pt] style, rather than just \mag1200'ing the CMR10 fonts. As far as style files, LaTeX has a skungeload, which are necessary if you intend to use any of those files. BK10.sty is used by \documentstyle[10pt]{book} and so on. The good news is two fold: any of these files are already available on your system at work, and can be transported to your amiga, (transporting them may be another question for another time) assuming that you have a working LaTeX at work. The other side of the coin is that AmigaTeX comes with everything you need for TeX and LaTeX, and contains the AMS macros (although the fonts need to be licenced if you want to use them for `profit', and are not included with AmigaTeX, you can get them by download). Back to the original questions: I have looked at PasTeX. The documentation is in German. I haven't used it, since it doesn't come with much in the way of fonts, and I can't read German. I don't recommend this kind of thing for a beginner. CommonTeX is something I have never persued. Someone (I think Chris Brand? wizard@sosaria?) has done a PD port of TeX3.0 for the amiga, and I got one of those files and had troubles at this end with UNIX->VAX->PC->amiga transfers, so I haven't finished looking at that. Final notes: Tom's AmigaTeX is currently at a revision of around 2.99r or s. This means that it has some of the features of 3.0, but without virtual fonts. His last newsletter said that he is working on that, but is waiting for further developments in postscript-interpreting libraries, so that the VF's could all be postscript, and the output could be on anything. This sounds exciting, but is still a future development. TeX3.0 is not an amiga implementation of TeX as such, but rather the latest version of TeX as a language from D. Knuth. METAFONT is up to 2.0, also. The new version includes things for international character sets, 8-bit inputs, virtual fonts, and some other things which are arcane to most normal users, but make the internals work better. If you can get it, and it works, great, but make sure that you know the differences between, for instance, amigatex at 2.99q and TeX3.0 and that you need 3.0 specific stuff before turning up your nose at an older version. Also, keep in mind that the only TeX for the amiga that is `supported' is AmigaTeX. Tom's support is superlative---not only through bix (the only official support for Amiga C is thru bix) but through his own BBS and through internet/bitnet e-mail as well! raybro%utrc@utrcgw.utc.com raybro on bix standard (?) disclaimer: I use amigaTeX. I don't sell it, I don't get any profit from recommending it, I get no kickbacks. I don't even know Tom Rokicki personally. I just think that it is an excellent product, and worth telling people about.