Jonathan Fine wrote:
actually i've heard Don say (at an ntg QA session long ago) that he was surprised that there were no more fundamental extensions like pdftex (at that time upcoming); also, there is a difference between (say) 2^4 fundamental different tex variants and 2^32 confusingly slightly unsimilar ones
Hans: I'm looking at the transcripts (in Digital Typography) and I think you're referring to the CS TUG session (pages 617-8) and not the NTG session.
Huh? I was at that ntg session in Amsterdam which is an 10 hour drive from Czech. Ok, I might be making things up and creating my own truth but somehow my I stored that remark in my memory (as usual at such a QA session someone asks "what do you think of developments like etex, omega, next generation tex etc" and i think it was related to such a question. But anyhow, I don't want to put answers in someone's mouth so if you're so sure that I'm wrong, forget about it.
Hans: Your comment has two parts, separated by an 'also'. Just to clarify, the first part is your paraphrase of Don Knuth and the second part (so far as I can tell) comes just from you, and not at all from Don Knuth.
Sure, I could have used a . instead of a. I was refering to your quote of "pseudo-TeX systems to proliferate" and I get the feeling that etex, omega, pdftex, luatex don't fall into this category ... all have been presented at meetings, discussed, even with Don being present and never have I heard him say/write 'please quit the development of your pseudo tex' or 'hey, you may not use tex as part of its name'. And this is what David meant (I think): let Don talk for himself and don't start a religion (by interpreting and putting things in someones mouth, like: we should use dvi because that is what Don wants (who says?) or stick to tex (because Don wrote it and sticks to it for clear reasons that everyone understands), while actually Don is way more open minded than some of his followers can grasp).
No need for anyone to reply to this (except David K, off-list if he wishes).
Well, no need for *you* to reply for this (after all you're now continuing a discussion that you yourself quit), but david might have another go at it -) Hans ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | fax: 038 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------