🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <513@geac.UUCP> david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) writes:
>I normally would have replied via email, but this one rankles me
>just a tad, so what the hell...
I would too, but some classless people have the tendency to attack rather
then comment!

>In article <112@tg.UUCP> scott@tg.UUCP (Scott Barman) writes:
>>In article <505@geac.UUCP> david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) writes:
>>>
>>>In a word, DRIVERS.
>>> ... deleted for space reasons ...
>Harder than you think laddie.

Sorry guy, I did mine from WWB 1.0 and FOUND NO PROBLEMS!  I did it
without help from AT&T or anyone else!  I took the d202.c driver as a
guide and went to it!  I also do things like this (programming) for a
living and see no problems (at another office in the orgianzation,
someone else did similar for the APS Micro-5 phototypesetter - NO
PROBLEMS).  With the manual of the output device at your side, you
should have no problems (as I repeat).

>>         Besides, if you have WWB or DWB source,
>>drivers are not difficult to write, just use an existing one as a guide...
>>that's what I did!
>
>And guess what? SoftQuad is the sole distributor of DWB in Canada.
>Think they are going to sell me DWB without the LN03 driver which
>doesn't exist?
And if you would have read the rest, I think I said that you can write
on from the sources of other drivers.  If they sell the DWB package
(which should come with drivers) then you can use others as a guide as I
and others did!  If you can't get the source to the older drivers, the
docuemtation for the ditroff output and compiled device files are
availble somewhere (I just don't know where at this point :-)).

>>>A number of people have been stating that troff
>>>comes with UNIX. This may be true ...
>>>	... deleted for space reasons ....
>>I just finished a driver for a VideoComp 500 phototypesetter for two different
>>emulations and both programs compile well under 100K on a VAX.  The Imagen
>>driver (which I had to hack for the environment) handles both host resident
>>and printer resident fonts and is under 150K.  The font description files
>>for each in source and compiled form takes up negligable amounts of space.
>
>So your solution to everyone who wants ditroff is to write a driver for
>it? Why should I do this, when I can get the LN03 dvi driver for free?
>How do you cost-justify that? Can you say "business sense"? I knew you could!
Can you say no other option?  Can you say common sense?  Can you say
justify the cost of buying TeX, getting it running, and retraining
people to use it?  Can you say the gist of the posting is what can be
done with ditroff?  I don't think you can!
All I suggested that if it can't be bought, how about  writing one
yourself?

>AT&T Canada wouldn't know ditroff if it came up and bit them!
>AT&T Stateside will help me if they can show me a legally registered
>as owning DWB. I can't get DWB, if I did, the registration would be 
>in Canada, and AT&T stateside would not help me. 
>  ... tirade on AT&T source license deleted ...
Sorry, this is AT&T's problem!  You deal with AT&T and you pay their
prices.  This is nothing I can help with!

>>>Try to find anyone who knows Troff that well.
>>I am available! :-)
>>
>Oh really? Want a standard troff package that will blow your
>ditroff to hell? What to tell me how to fix it. It worked
>fine with the original Troff - core dumps now!
Is this supposed to be a joke or did you forget the meaning of the :-)?
You want me to consider a problem, ask, ask the net, just ASK!  Isn't
that what this news group is for?

>Whew! I guess what really steamed me about this is a) it was *incredibly*
>condescending and b) Scott assumes that all the world in the United States.
>Now, some of you might like to believe that :-) but the rest of us have
>to live in the real world. 
>
>For the record, I do not believe that the sun shines out of TeX's *ss, but
>I do not believe that troff (or ditroff) is a viable alternative. And, I
>think that, given time and the amount of development effort that is going
>into TeX, that the eventual winner of the race will be TeX.
For the record sir, *IF* you have read my past postings, I have clearly
said that I do not have experince with TeX and can only relate my
extensive experience with ditroff.  I have, in the past, publicly
admitted when I was wrong and will do so when that time arrives.  Can it
be that you just read the article wrong?  I think so!
Also, my assumption is that AT&T's support is the same (or an attempt of
the same) across international boundries.  I apologize for not knowing
that AT&T Canada has problems supporting their software.  However, I
know that this is a worldwide network and realize not all works the same
outside the US than in the US.  I would assume AT&T Canada would be able
to help, I guess not :-).

My posting was *suggestions* as to what to do, not an attack on TeX or
anyone.  However if you have problems in the future with my articles,
send me mail and I will answer you as soon as possible and let's not get
into a mudslinging contest on the net! 

>-david-

Scott Barman
{philabs, pyrnj}!tg!scott