🚀 go-pugleaf

To Free Software Foundation and gnu-manual@cs.uiuc.edu,

Subject:  May I use Emacs to deliver a book?

I'm trying to arrange for the publishing of my book entitled
"Hypertext".   I  would also like to provide a diskette with
an electronic copy of the book.  I've spoken with the people
responsible  for several hypertext products.  Their products
are attractive because they have easy-to-use interfaces  and
handle  graphics.   Their  products  can  also  be delivered
almost free in a read-only mode.

However, giving people the opportunity to write as  well  as
to  read seems critical.  The editor at one publishing house
that has published an  electronic  hypertext  notes  that  a
read-only  electronic  delivery  vehicle is not ideal.  So I
would like to provide my book  with  a  tool  that  supports
reading and writing.  May I use Emacs for this?

I'm a regular user of emacs and my Ph.D. students have  used
emacs  to build discussion systems, a hypertext browser, and
hypertext to text and text to hypertext conversion programs.
I've   had   classes  use  a  simple  x-windows  plus  emacs
environment to collaboratively annotate my book. One  of  my
students is now trying to translate my book into Emacs INFO.

But I have no experience with providing software that people
comfortably  use.   Any  guidance  that you could give on my
project  would  be  appreciated.   I  have   many   specific
questions a sample of which follow:

*    Do you have any extensions to Emacs that would be  par-
     ticularly suited to a delivering a document.

*    The source file of my book has been  marked  with  com-
     mands  from  the  Unix Document Workbench.  I suppose I
     must remove the picture generating  and  font  changing
     commands.

*    I use GNU Emacs on Unix workstations.  My secretary has
     on  MS-DOS  a  copy of Emacs (we know little about that
     copy).  I would think that my book would be more acces-
     sible  to  people were it available for MS-DOS systems.
     What is the relationship between the Unix and  the  MS-
     DOS versions?

I found your two addresses from Emacs manuals.  Should I  be
addressing  this letter to someone else?  Please help me get
in touch with someone who would care to respond to me.

Thank you, Roy

Tangentially, regarding the UIUC address, I got my Ph.D.  in
computer science from UIUC in Jan. 1981.