Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!killer!tness7!texbell!ssbn!carpet!bill
From: bill@carpet.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport
Subject: Re: Microport V/AT DWB 1.0
Message-ID: <168@carpet.WLK.COM>
Date: 3 Oct 88 01:44:48 GMT
References: <162@carpet.WLK.COM> <205@focsys.UUCP>
Reply-To: bill@ssbn.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy)
Distribution: na
Organization: W.L. Kennedy Jr & Associates, Pipe Creek, TX
Lines: 48

In article <205@focsys.UUCP> larry@focsys.UUCP (Larry Williamson) writes:
>In article <162@carpet.WLK.COM> bill@carpet.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy) writes:
[ deleting what I wrote ]
>
>I've tried to bring jetroff up on the V/AT (286) machine with little
>success.  I can't say that my problems have been troff's fault though. 
>Some problems seem to be font file errors. 

There are indeed some fonts missing from the usenet distribution, and
they are available, promptly, by sending in your contribution.  The
package still functions without the H, HI, and HB fonts, but you get
the djet manual page printed with Roman where it says it's Helvetica.

>I've been thinking about sending my $$ to jetroff's author so that I'll
>have a good clean version to work from.  But with the concern you have
>raised of troff's viability, I'm not sure that it would be money well
>spent. 

If you're going to use troff from (vendor name here) to a Laser Jet then
I feel that the contribution is well worth it.  V/AT troff viability
aside, it's DWB 1.0 (even if my `brain dead' claim is bogus) and you
really do want 2.0.  You're going to spend a lot more than $50 getting a
working troff and you're going to spend close to that figure getting
enough books to figure out how to use it.  I did not find the "stock"
AT&T documentation sufficient, nor the Elan doc (it was, admittedly, better).

>I would feel more comfortable if I heard that someone else has actually
>used DWB1.0 troff with success.  Someone not connected with microport,
>that is.
>
>-- 
>Larry Williamson  -- Focus Automation Systems -- Waterloo, Ontario
>                       watmath!focsys!larry       (519) 746-4918

I'd feel a lot more comfortable if anyone, Microport or not, could confirm
or deny that V/AT troff functions with any postprocessor.  Here we are, all
dressed up, ready to plunge into some industrial strength document preparation
and we don't know if the primary tool works...

Another note about PC Research (author of JetRoff), since sending in the
contribution, I have been nearly flooded with nifty little add on's and
gadgets, in addition to the fonts that were not published to the net.  I've
certainly gotten my money's worth.  The jetcal program alone is a compelling
reminder of what the HP Laser Jet can do that we never saw.  That's an
unsolicited testimonial from me, just a happy user.
-- 
Bill Kennedy  Internet:  bill@ssbn.WLK.COM
                Usenet:  { killer | att | rutgers | uunet!bigtex }!ssbn!bill