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From: chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Double spacing in LaTeX?
Message-ID: <28771@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: 24 Dec 90 13:26:10 GMT
References: <1990Dec24.020254.9831@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 30

In article <1990Dec24.020254.9831@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>
newman@buster.cps.msu.edu (Timothy S Newman) writes:
>[Double spacing] seems like a pretty simple thing to me, why does LaTeX
>make it so difficult?

LaTeX deliberately makes a number of common typographical mistakes
difficult---or more precisely, it does not provide pre-packaged
mistakes.

A number of people have put together `double space styles', i.e.,
pre-packaged typographical errors.  One should use these only under
duress.  Double spacing is a necessary evil in two environments:
typewritten text, where the baseline tends to be harder to follow than
in good (1200 dpi or higher) typeset output; and copy-editing, where
there must be enough space on each page for the editor (a person) to
change every word if necessary.

Note that these two demand entirely different double space styles.
(Typewritten text can usually use `1.5 spacing', and short quoted
passages should be single spaced; this is not true in traditional
copy editing.)  In addition, when using a computer, editing can be
done much more simply on line, including the final typographical
`mark up' done when the text is finished (this involves tweaking
line and page breaks to improve page layout, e.g., to avoid rivers).
(Use a revision control system to maintain exact deltas, rather than
the ridiculous practise of change bars---another of those `necessary
evils' that has become unnecessary.)
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain:	chris@cs.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris