rusty@GARNET.BERKELEY.EDU (06/21/89)
Apparently /usr/bin/troff has been modified to use ascii character width tables. Problem 1: I can't find where this has been documented. Problem 2: If one tries to use the Adobe Transcript software (this is Unix software so you can use a PostScript printer) it assumes that /usr/bin/troff is "normal" (i.e., unmodified) and expects its font width tables to be binary. In other words, this all works on a Sun workstation, works on systems with a standard /usr/bin/troff, and (I assume) used to work on Ultrix. Problem 3: This is the worst. I called DEC's 800 support number and they don't know anything about it, and also said that they can't do anything about it because /usr/bin/troff is an "unsupported product". I posted a message to the ultrix usenet newsgroup and someone within DEC acknowledged that the Ultrix people have modified /usr/bin/troff to use ascii width tables. I don't understand how they can have modified it, and not documented their changes, and then claim that they don't support it. What a crock!