prem@andante.UUCP (Swami Devanbu) (01/12/89)
I've been reading about MacTeX and TeXtures in various places,
and it all sounds rather grim. However, I very much would
like to have a TeX on my Mac II. I'd like to have the following
available on it:
a) LaTEX readily available.
b) Preview included, including grafix from EPSF files.
c) Postscript Fonts (instead of Computer Modern) usable as
default.
d) full compatibility with Vax TeX guranteed
(I want to be able bring files from home to work,
back and forth).
e) Equation typesetting supported.
The reviews I've read say nothing about a). MacUser (MU) says TeXtures
wins on b), and loses big on c). Nothing is said about either for
d), though I suspect MacTeX loses, because MU makes vague noises
about it not being a "fully compatible" implementation of TeX.
As far as e), it appears that MacTeX loses, since it they have
"abandoned" the Computer Modern family of fonts.
But MacUser says that this will fix itself when the LUCIDA font
complete set is available from Adobe. Give me a break. What
happens now ? Does this mean to use equations with MacTex
I have to go to Adobe afterwards and shell out $200 or so to
buy the LUCIDA family ? Can't I just use the equation
stuff from Computer Modern family ? Gah.
Speaking of fonts, it appears that TeXtures ships with only
Computer Modern, and only 10 and 12 points at that. So for
large point sizes, they "recommend" that you use postscript
fonts, which as far as I can tell, they do not support.
So does this mean you have to break into raw postscript
for any kind of heading/subheading larger that 12 points,
and for footnotes etc smaller that 10 points ? Double gah.
Are there any other options ? Do people out there use TeX
on the Mac ? Any partisans for TeXtures/MacTeX who would like
to point out my errors/ignorance ?
Prem Devanbu
Artificial Intelligence Principles Research Dept.,
(W) 201 582 2062
(H) 201 757 3748
MH 3C-438 AT&T Bell Laboratories
600 Mountain Ave,
Murray Hill NJ 07974, USA
prem%allegra@research.att.com
{ihnp4,ucbvax,vax135,decvax,....}!allegra!prem