Wither TeX? (was Re:Last typewriter factory in the world shuts its doors)

[Anthony de Boer]

Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> On 12 May 2011 07:29, Stewart C. Russell <scruss-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > Well, you can hardly blame Knuth for not adding a feature that didn't exist
> > until 20 years after TeX was conceived.
> 
> The "feature" was a philosophy that the user had no right to suggest -- let
> alone have the ability to alter -- the presentation. Given the rise of the
> Internet and its associated shifting control to the consumer, Knuth's
> feature is in increasing disrepute,

Just exactly *how* were you going to control page size, fonts, etc, on
a physical piece of paper?

If you're doing physical layout to go to press, then page size, along
with details like paper weight and glossiness and the print quality, are
constants that you can build into what you're doing.  You try your best
to make reasonable formatting decisions that will be pleasing to the eyes
of most readers.  Book publishers will jump through a lot of those hoops
a second time going from hardcover to paperback format.  And even at home
with a modest laser printer I've got a reasonably respectable printing
facility.  TeX is an awesome rendering engine in that environment.

However, e-text is an entirely new and wonderful thing; with layout left
to the reader's device, we can go with huge flatscreens (and all or some
smaller window thereof), portable devices, etc, with very different
line-widths.  Those of us whose eyes are getting older can up the font
size.  We can even leave the choice of font in the hands of the user, for
those who find serif or sanserif easier to read.  We might even hit ^P to
send a copy to paper.  It makes a lot of sense that a lot of the software
for this is new and different, even as it might gainfully draw on lessons
and algorithms learned in the paper days.

We're not there entirely yet; I'd still rather sit down with a book than
a reader, and I'm not ready to buy into anyone's DRM regime.  Paper isn't
going away anytime soon, but the world is moving in the digital direction.

-- 
Anthony de Boer
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