Re: Removal of initex?

Quoting Reinhard Kotucha <[email protected]>:

> >>>>> "Ingolf" == Ingolf Steinbach <[email protected]> writes:
> 
>   > Hi, Thomas Esser wrote:
>   >> So by removing "initex", we have removed a common source of
>   >> problems.
> 
>   > A Bourne shell script (named "initex") which prints out the
>   > explanation why there is no real initex (and then exit with
>   > non-zero status) could IMO reduce the chance of introducing
>   > another problem (i.e. people searching in vain for initex).
> 
> Hi,
> the idea itself is quite good.  But should there be such a script for
> each program which has been removed or renamed?  Though only DEK
> mentioned INITEX in the TeXbook, people might expect the same for
> metafont, pdftex, pdfetex, etex, cyrtex, cyrtexinfo, csplain,
> pdfcsplain, cont-en, cont-...  Run "fmtutil -e" to see how many
> formats are supported.
> 
> There cannot be such a file for mp because it had been renamed to
> mpost to avoid a name clash with an other program.
> 
> It does not happen very often that people run into this problem.
> 
> What would you do if have read the TeXbook and then notice that INITEX
> is missing?
> 
> I would expect that it is mentioned in the "SEE ALSO" of tex's
> manpage.  But you don't have to read so much.  From tex(1):
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
>   TEX(1)
> 
>   NAME
>          tex, virtex, initex - text formatting and typesetting
> 
>   SYNOPSIS
>          tex [options] [& format ] [ file | \ commands ]
> 
> [...]

The 3rd paragraph in my page discusses initex.  The "..tex -ini" way is 
mentioned, but a user who is accustomed to using initex (or is trying to 
follow a recipe in an old usenet posting) may not realize that initex is
deliberately omitted in favor of "..tex -ini", or that they should be looking
at fmtutil.  

>      -ini   Start  in INI mode, which is used to dump formats.  The INI mode
>             can be used for typesetting, but no  format  is  preloaded,  and
>             basic initializations like setting catcodes may be required.
> [...]
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> So if you have a GNU based system which is set up properly (the latter
> is quite unlikely), the command

Now that the list of directories that used to go in MANPATH is controlled
by /etc/man.conf, it becomes difficult to keep man pages in sync with teTeX,
especially if you have multiple versions installed.  

>    apropos initex
> 
> should point you to the man page.  Reading the documentation which
> comes with a particular TeX distribution is also a good choice.
> 
> If we really want to have such scripts, maybe people ask for macro
> packages like
> 
> foiltex.sty:
> ________________________________________________________________
> \typeout{foiltex had been removed from teTeX for legal reasons.}
> \input x
> ________________________________________________________________
> 
> I *really* hope that nobody regards this as beeing useful.

Even if it was useful in the short run, how long do you continue with it?

> Your idea is good and reasonable, but it might become an endless
> story and only very, very few people profit from it. 

It is not simply a question of whether replacing packages with hints will
benefit enough people.  The problem of dealing with change goes to a basic
difference between free software and the rest.  As a user of free software, I
benefit from the work of others.  This work (at the high level the TeX
community enjoys) is not an infinite resource, so it is better that the people
who do the work concentrate on significant things.  This freedom to make
changes is part of the reason there is so much high quality free software. As a
user, this means I have to work harder to understand new versions, a small price
to pay for quality and real progress.

-- 
George N. White III
Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia