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Started by Roy Smith
Sat, 20 Dec 1986 20:55
Using RCS for manuscripts
Author: Roy Smith
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1986 20:55
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1986 20:55
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[sci.research isn't really right for this; followups to comp.text]
This is sort of a funny question, but I'd like to know what kinds
of experiences people have had using RCS to maintain text documents (as
opposed to source code). Clearly it's feasable, but I'm thinking more of
the human factors; my target population is a bunch of scientists who know
enough about Unix to deal with emacs, troff, eqn, bib, and tbl, and to do
data analysis using canned applications. By and large, (although there is
a wide distribution) they are not programmers or real computer types.
A lot of what we do is manuscripts and grant applications; both
would benefit from RCSification. Right now, for example, I've got two
people working on a grant application, with separate copies of the files
rapidly growing more and more divergent (one likes Times, the other
Helvetica; that's the only way they keep their printed copies straight).
Anway, I don't need a sales pitch on RCS/SCCS (I already use RCS
and love it). What I'm really after are opinions as to whether it is
practical to teach a non-computer type how to use RCS, and have the value
they get out of it exceed the effort they had to put into learning Yet
Another Thing.
--
Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
"you can't spell deoxyribonucleic without unix!"
Re: Using RCS for manuscripts
Author: Mark Weiser
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1986 00:55
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1986 00:55
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In article <2544@phri.UUCP> roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
>
> This is sort of a funny question, but I'd like to know what kinds
>of experiences people have had using RCS to maintain text documents (as
>opposed to source code)
>Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
I used RCS for text for a time, but then discovered that it cost more
storage than just keeping the old versions around directly. Apparently,
the way I edit my papers causes almost every line to change, and
RCS hurt rather than helped, in a compression sense.
-mark
--
Spoken: Mark Weiser ARPA: mark@mimsy.cs.umd Phone: +1-301-454-7817
CSNet: mark@mimsy UUCP: {seismo,allegra}!mimsy!mark
USPS: Computer Science Dept., University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Re: Using RCS for manuscripts
Author: Michael Bruck
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1986 23:30
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1986 23:30
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In article <2544@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
>
> This is sort of a funny question, but I'd like to know what kinds
> of experiences people have had using RCS to maintain text documents...
We're in the process of writing a very large program architecture spec
and as there are several co-authors, we decided to use RCS to control
the source files to the formatter (scribe). So far we have found it
very useful for most of the same reasons that makes RCS useful for
software development.
--
--Michael Bruck
Corporate CAD, Intel Corp, Santa Clara, California
UUCP: ...{hplabs,decwrl,oliveb,amdcad}!intelca!mipos3!mike
CSNET: mike@mipos3.intel.com
Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.
The above views are personal.
Re: Using RCS for manuscripts
Author: Mike Olson
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1987 17:52
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1987 17:52
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In article <2544@phri.UUCP> roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
> This is sort of a funny question, but I'd like to know what kinds
> of experiences people have had using RCS to maintain text documents (as
> opposed to source code)
> Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
we use rcs to maintain almost all of our distributed documentation. if
you're *very* careful about assigning symbolic names, you'll probably
find it useful. we have. we're not terribly concerned about the space
eaten up by the rcs files, because the development log that accompanies
them is useful. being able to maintain both source code and its documentation
with the same package (and using the same symbolic names) is handy.
mike olson
disclaimer: all opinions expressed above are mine, and do not necessarily
represent the views of britton lee inc.
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