From: rick@sjsumcs.sjsu.edu (Richard Warner)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Tex Advantages (was Re: TeX an archaic religion?)
Date: 28 Aug 92 16:06:29 GMT
Organization: San Jose State University - Math/CS Dept.

hpw@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Harry P Warren) writes:


>|
>| >* TeX is compatable across a multitude of systems. So, instead of
>| >  being stuck using a single platform/program for all our work,
>| >  we can use almost any system.
>| 
>| This is a fallacy.  There are a lot of site, platform, and implementation
>| dependencies in TeX.  Each site has its macros (that they always forget to
>| send with the document), each platform has something different in its flavor,
>| and TeX ne LaTeX ne AMSTeX.  Then there is the horror of device
>| dependencies.
>| 
>| >* TeX is free.
>| 
>| Not on your life.  TeX is very expensive - the costs are just more hidden
>| than in the commercial products. 
>| 

>Here at Columbia University I have used TeX on a Sun, Vax, NeXT, and
>Mac (all maintained by different groups) and I have not experienced
>very many "implementation" or "device" dependencies nor have I run
>into any substantial "hidden costs" ($32 for the TeXbook; the disk
>space and memory requirements for TeX are rather trivial compared with
>those for real scientific computing). Granted, I'm not a very
>sophisticated TeX user and if I had to put out 50 page grant proposals
>with dozens of tables, graphs, and pictures I would consider a
>commercial product such as Frame. However, for writing scientific
>papers TeX is without peer for its beautiful output and universal
>availability. 

OK.  Take your TeX output.  Print it on an HP LaserJet, a QMS 810,
a Sun SPARC printer and a Varityper 600.  How many different font sets
would this require?  Three (3) - 300 dpi, 400 dpi, and 600 dpi!  You
do not consider that device dependence?  How many would FrameMaker
or PageMaker require?  One!  And thrown in with that one font I can also
output to a 35mm slidemaker at 2K, 4K, or 8K resolution and imagesetters
at 1200-2500 dpi (neither of which work very well with TeX).  Device
independence, that is the name of the modern typesetting paradigm.
TeX is extremely device dependent - it belongs to a previous typesetting 
paradigm (bit-mapped page description versus the more current object-mapped
page description).

TeX also eats a lot of disk space.  Disk space is expensive ($2.2 - 4/Mb
low end, higher in proprietary systems).  TeX on UNIX systems with 1 font
set (1 device type) takes over 20 Mb - that is $50-80 worth of disk space.

TeX also requires, at most sites, a great deal of support - and there is
no OFFICIAL TeX support.  That means the site has to pay a body to
baby-sit TeX.  That is expensive.  Very expensive.  That is why more
and more University's are adopting a 'use TeX if you want, but we will
not provide ANY support' attitude (I have seen 3 such announcements this
week - and I see very few policy statements from other University's).
They have discovered that the cost of supporting TeX is much higher than
any commercial software; and budgets are lean.

As I have said privately to several individuals - I am not pushing anyone
away from TeX or towards any commercial package.  But TeX, like Forth
and APL and a few other things, has become a 'religion' that the true
believers think is great. They then try to collect converts to their faith.
The problem I have is with the mis-information that is spread in this
conversion campaign - like the 'device independence' fallacy.  If you
want to follow your 'religion' fine - but please keep to the facts.

>harry warren
>hpw@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
Xref: sparky comp.os.os2.advocacy:4527 comp.os.os2.misc:28232