Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!think!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!hplabs!gatech!linus!sdo
From: sdo@linus.UUCP (Sean David O'Neil)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Why troff?
Message-ID: <362@linus.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Jan-87 10:52:33 EST
Article-I.D.: linus.362
Posted: Tue Jan 20 10:52:33 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Jan-87 22:12:01 EST
Reply-To: sdo@linus.UUCP (Sean David O'Neil)
Distribution: comp.text
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA
Lines: 22
Keywords: TeX, troff
Summary: TeX seems so much better


Before we got TeX here troff was all we had for typesetting, and it was
a nightmare.  I could never get it to do exactly what I wanted, especially
when typing technical material, and the documentation was poorly done.
Now we have TeX and everything is dandy.  Practically everyone uses it
here now, even people who never typed their own stuff before, which is
just short of amazing.  Not only that but the output really looks great.

My question is this - why does anyone continue to use troff?  This is a
serious question here, I'm being neither smug nor snide.  From the number
of articles about troff posted in this newsgroup there clearly exists a
large number of people who use troff and support it.  Anyone who can
use troff can learn to use TeX, so simplicity can't be the reason, and
besides there are lots of really simple WYSIWYG formatters around today,
so convenience seems unlikely as well.  Is it just inertia?

Does anyone with an overview of both troff and TeX have an answer?  Due
to my somewhat short experience with troff, I can easily imagine there are
good reasons to use it - it's just that I'm unaware of any.


Sean O'Neil