Paul Isambert wrote:
And plain TeX doesn't have a lot of documentation. Anyway there isn't much to document. Basically using plain TeX means you need a very good knowledge of the engine, and you'll write tons of macros (in a way there are no plain TeX users, only users of personal formats based on plain).
All true, except for the first part, where there is plenty of documentation available : The TeXbook, TeX by Topic, SvB's mammoth \TeX} in Practice, plus many others listed at Nelson Beebe's http://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub//tex/bib/texbook1.html
Philip, plain TeX isn't exactly mainstream anymore, and ConTeXt probably beats it on this point. And ConTeXt is already more than 15 years old, so it's not so new, although it does keep moving.
I'll address these later : have to leave now. ** Phil.