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From: romwa@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Mark Dornfeld)
Date: Tue, 26-Jul-88 22:03:48 EDT
Message-ID: <1988Jul26.220348.4254@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu>
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: SGML defended (Long)
References: <61024@sun.uucp> <7986@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: romwa@gpu.utcs.UUCP (Mark Dornfeld)

In article <7986@watdragon.waterloo.edu> tbray@watsol.waterloo.edu (Tim Bray) writes:
>In article <61024@sun.uucp> tut%cairo@Sun.COM (Bill "Bill" Tuthill) writes:
Tim has accurately argued the points that Bill brought up.
SGML is NOT a typesetting system; Bill really missed that one.
We (Royal Ontario Museum) are trying to standardize on SGML
for many of our editorial projects.  By standardizing on a
markup language, we can write filters to troff, TeX,
Pagemaker, Ventura and also ask for bids from typesetters who
can read SGML.  This multiplies our options tremendously.

>2. The SGML standard is a crock.  I have not read it, but this is the
No, it isn't, well, at least not completely.  It's usable and the
standard is flexible as
long as the DTD (Document Type Description) is complete.

>Hey, I like troff/TeX and so on for doing typesetting.  But typesetting
>is just one of many things that can be done with an electronic document.
>If you want enough flexibility to do some of those other things, don't
>limit yourself to typographical markup.
There's the key right there.

Mark T. Dornfeld
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
M5S 2C6

mark@utgpu!rom      - or -     romwa@utgpu