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From: sdawalt@cs.wright.edu (Shane Dawalt)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Idea for Discussion: Remove LaTeX from TeX Group?
Message-ID: <1991Feb12.012451.9970@cs.wright.edu>
Date: 12 Feb 91 01:24:51 GMT
References: <58132@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Organization: Wright State University
Lines: 30

From article <58132@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, by xiaofei@acsu.buffalo.edu (Xiaofei Wang):
> Would that be a good idea to remove LaTeX related discussions from
> ``comp.text.TeX'' to ``comp.text.LaTeX''?

  I think it would be a good idea since, as was mentioned, LaTeX and 
TeX have different methods for doing some similar operation.  It might
be nice to separate the groups to reduce the twining of message
threads which can only be confusing to those involved.

> LaTeX is designed the way as it is, it is inappropriate and a waste of
> time to ask it to do things it is not designed to do. In that case, I
> would think one should write one's own macro based on *original* TeX.
> [It seems to me that everything LaTeX can do Plain TeX can but not the
> opposite.]

  Ummm, the idea of LaTeX is to remove the user from the complexity
of TeX.  Of course TeX can do what LaTeX can do, LaTeX is, after all,
a subset of TeX.  LaTeX was not built to become a new TeX, but to make
common functions easier to use, thus, LaTeX cannot do everything TeX can.
On the other hand, LaTeX does allow the user to enter TeX commands if
needs arise.  I'm not sure how since I don't understand TeX commands
to begin with.

  Shane();

-- 
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From the keyboard of:			     email: sdawalt@cs.wright.edu
	Shane A. Dawalt
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