Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sun!imagen!daemon
From: ib@apolling (Ivan N. Bach)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: PostScript -- Stop Bashing Adobe
Message-ID: <9460@imagen.UUCP>
Date: 27 Feb 90 16:56:38 GMT
Sender: daemon@imagen.UUCP
Lines: 35

rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn) writes:

>Look, this isn't alt.flame.  Some of us read this group to exchange ideas
>about PostScript, not to watch all the wannabes preen their egos and whine
...
>Nor have I seen anyone show even a plausible fragment of a replacement or
>competitor for PostScript.  It's *just* noise, and it's rude to keep

I completely agree with you.  I am discussing very important technical aspects
of the PostScript language, and proposing substantial improvements to that
language.  What are you doing Dick?  What is your contribution to this discussion?
Nobody but Apple and Adobe had a say in what the new world standard for storing
and transmitting image data should look like, and how it should be implemented.
You are now telling us that even after this flawed standard has been accepted by
people who know very little about programming languages and the theory of
information, nobody should be allowed to discuss PostScript's deficiencies.  Your
comments do not reek of America.  They reek of Russia before Gorbachev.

Years ago IMAGEN developed a language called DDL (Document Description Language). 
Our DDL interpreter supports both a readable and binary format.  DDL allows you 
to do everything that can be done in PostScript, and more.  For example, you can 
specify a complex document layout for signature printing on top of page 
descriptions.  I was not involved in the design of DDL.  After several years of
using both DDL and PostScript, I have come to the conclusion that both languages
have certain deficiencies which should be corrected in future document description
languages.  Tremendous advances in the power of hardware should be used to develop
a new, object-oriented document description language that would be much more
powerful, much easier to use, much easier to debug, and much more difficult to 
implement than either PostScript or DDL.  We could design such a language in this 
newsgroup if you would only let us do that.

Ivan N. Bach                      Tel (408) 986-9400, x508
QMS, Inc.                         Fax (408) 727-3725 
2650 San Tomas Expressway         arpa: ib@imagen.com 
Santa Clara, CA 95051             uucp: decwrl!imagen!ib