stevens@hsi.UUCP (09/30/83)
Having a 750 running 4.1 with a System V license, we could use
either the -ms mackage or the -mm macro package. We are just about
to undertake some large documentation projects and could use either.
(This assumes that the -mm package will run under 4.1 - I haven't tried
it yet, but assume its feasible).
The problem is that I am very familiar with the -ms package but have
never used the -mm package. From the System V documentation, it
appears that the -mm package may be more robust and may have some
features not available in -ms.
Anyone used both ?? Any recommendations ??
Richard Stevens
Health Systems International, New Haven, CT
{ decvax | hao | seismo } ! kpno ! hsi ! stevens
ihnp4 ! hsi ! stevensidallen@watmath.UUCP (10/06/83)
I know that the distributed -ms package does not handle Keeps properly,
especially floating keeps, multiple floating keeps, combinations of fixed
and floating keeps, and keeps longer than a page. (I use a repaired
version of -ms that has these problems fixed. Rumour has it that -me has
its own share of bugs.)
--
-IAN! (Ian! D. Allen) University of Waterloopadpowell@wateng.UUCP (PAD Powell[Admin]) (10/07/83)
I have a substantially better (documented) version of the -me macros that I want to try on ditroff before I turn them loose. One of the advantages of the macros is the ability to only partially load the needed macros, or to load all of them at once. For example, the first use of a paragraphine macro will load all of the paragraphing things. In addition, it will set up the page. The .Lp macro will load paragraphing macros. The macros are kept in a directory, with the name of the macros corresponding to the name of the file they are in. I have strived to put in line explanationsof the macros in the macro files. I have even tried to explain why various macros do various things. Patrick Powell
gwyn%brl-vld@sri-unix.UUCP (10/13/83)
From: Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn@brl-vld> I don't think the -mm macros work with 4.1BSD nroff but someone else probably has a better answer to this question. If you're converting to 4.2BSD then you could just install the BRL UNIX System V user environment on top of your O.S. and use that. Otherwise, with a moderate amount of work you could adapt the USG nroff (and other text-processing tools) to work on 4.1BSD and replace those shipped with the system. I think this is all worth doing. The -mm macros are much better than the -ms ones, in my opinion. You should also realize that the -ms macros do not come with UNIXes supplied by Western Electric starting with UNIX System III (actually System III had a nice version hidden in /usr/doc somewhere, but it was unsupported).
gwyn@brl-vld@sri-unix.UUCP (10/19/83)
From: Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn@brl-vld> Indeed, the BRL System V on 4.2BSD package is continually being worked on. It is packaged much better than the version UT got (no files in /usr/lib, for example), and has essentially all the utilities now. Several bugs of different flavors have been taken care of, although I'm sure there are more to be found. The thing I like most is the improved C compiler and lint.
jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (10/24/83)
The 4.1xBSD nroff can be hacked to support the USG -mm macros by adding
one command. It's about ten lines of code. If you don't want to do that,
you can do a simple global replacement on the -mm macros and take care of
most of the offending cases (it has to do with page numbering).
Getting the System V nroff up on 4BSD is also not really that hard.
My impression of the BRL System-V-on-4BSD emulator thus far is that it is
a useful idea but needs more work.
It's not clear why anybody wants to compare -ms and -mm. Comparing -me
and -mm would be more appropriate. The -me macros do several things the
-mm ones don't, such as produce decent indexes. The -mx macros that come
with 4.2BSD (basically -ms plus indexes, and so forth) also might be
a contender.
--
John Quarterman, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas
{ihnp4,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!jsq, jsq@ut-sally.{ARPA,UUCP}