🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan4.193611.21406@galois.mit.edu>, robertb@bernoulli.mit.edu
(Robert Becker) writes:
[...]
|> 
|> I copied latex.tex and sfonts.tex to my Inputs directory and ran
|> Initex 3.14 on latex.tex.  I got the following:
|> 
|> > This is TeX, C Version 3.14t3 (INITEX)  4 JAN 1993 14:27
|> > **latex
|> > (latex.tex
|> > ! Missing { inserted.
|> > <to be read again> 
|> >                    {
|> > l.4 \everyjob{
|> >               \typeout{LaTeX Version 2.09 <25 March 1992>}}}
|> > ? 
[...]
|> 
|> What did I do wrong?
|>

You typed 'latex' in response to the ** prompt when you should have typed
'lplain'. lplain.tex reads latex.tex and lfonts.tex (among other things)
later on. INITeX starts up in a state in which not even \catcode`\{ has
been set yet: hence the error message.

It would have been much better if latex.tex had been the primary input
file (then TeX wouldn't have to describe the preloaded format file as
`format=lplain') but this bug has achieved the status of a feature. Any
chance of it being done right in LaTeX 3?

Chris Thompson
JANET:    cet1@uk.ac.cam.phx
Internet: cet1@phx.cam.ac.uk