eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) (04/29/91)
After the well-known classification of the Unix user/wizard/...
maybe it is time to start compiling the profile of the
users of TeX. Kindly consider this an opportunity to
caricature all those levels you left behind you:
novice: still writes $a_{1}$ because Leslie Lamport says so;
user: thinks to have found a bug in TeX
or to which you aspire:
hacker: writes self-modifying macros
wizard: knows how to recompile TeX with a larger pool size
guru: has actually found a bug in TeX
Mail to me, or post in reply to this message (I think
the latter is more fun).
If the response turns out well I'll compile the results
for a piece in TUGboat, with due credit to the
contributors, of course.
Victor.nico@cs.ruu.nl (Nico Verwer) (04/29/91)
In <1991Apr28.235931.15846@csrd.uiuc.edu> eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: >Kindly consider this an opportunity to >caricature all those levels you left behind you: Novice: Doesn't understand why LaTeX won't allow him to use square brackets in an array environment, like \begin{eqnarray*} ([a] ++ x )^{\sim} & = & (x^{\sim}) ++ [a] \\ []^{\sim} & = & [] \end{eqnarray*} ``And then it said something about a missing number?!?!'' -- Nico Verwer | nico@cs.ruu.nl Dept. of Computer Science, University of Utrecht | phone: +31 30 533921 p.o. box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands | fax: +31 30 513791
seaotter@athena.mit.edu (Stace: the Final Frontier) (04/29/91)
eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: >After the well-known classification of the Unix user/wizard/... >maybe it is time to start compiling the profile of the >users of TeX. Kindly consider this an opportunity to >caricature all those levels you left behind you: At some level beyond rank amateur, but below user: One who writes macros (or attempts to) to make TeX look more like (choose one: Scribe, -ms, -me, -mm, Digital Standard Runoff...) Ciao, Mike (weaned on Scribe but uses [nt]roff and LIKES it...) -- | Mike Zraly (the old ssrat) | Dawn: The time when men | | | of reason go to bed. | | mzraly@ldbvax.dnet.lotus.com | | | or c/o seaotter@athena.mit.edu | -- Ambrose Bierce |
HAN@FRECP12.BITNET (Jay Thierry HAN) (04/29/91)
Ah, but the normal user knows from hearing it 1,000,000 times that finding a
bug in TeX is *very* unlikely. So, I would say :
user : thinks he has read most of The TeXbook.
But this definition is a bit cynical, and besides, it doesn't apply to me,
although I think of myself a TeX user :-) Well, how about this one :
user : has a dozen of macro definition files and strives to make them stable.
J. Han.raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (04/29/91)
I sent this to Victor, but perhaps others would like to critique.
[There are also some new entries.]
Novice:
* Uses LaTeX because his friends told him to.
* Creates vertical space via
\hfil\break\hfil\break\hfil\break\hfil\break
or $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ [or the LaTeX equivalent]
* Lines up tables with \ \ \ \ \ \ .
* Uses ... instead of \dots, \ldots, and \cdots.
* Types $log \, x$ instead of $\log x$.
* Has heard of macros but has never seen one.
* Uses grouping but doesn't understand why.
* Responds to every TeX error with `e'.
* Isn't sure whether Leslie Lamport is a man or a woman.
* Wonders why everybody thinks TeX is so cool.
User:
* Likes LaTeX.
* Religiously inserts ties everywhere Chapter 14 tells him to.
* Frequently puts punctuation marks on the wrong side of the $ sign.
* Leaves math mode to get math operators that aren't built in.
For example, $f \in$ Hom $(A, B)$.
* Has written small style files that change parameters.
* Writes a `boldface' macro as \long\def\boldface#1{{\bf#1}}
* Wonders why \def\thing1{...} \def\thing2{...} \thing1 doesn't work.
* Immediately asks, ``How can I make TeX larger?'' every time he
gets a `TeX capacity exceeded' error.
* Doesn't understand why \verb is so fragile.
* Has heard of catcodes but has never seen one.
Hacker:
* Has given up on LaTeX because it's too confining.
* Has written his own macro packages, but they sometimes produce
unwanted spaces in the output.
* Writes a \boldface macro as \def\beginboldface{\bgroup\bf}
\def\endboldface{\egroup}
* Understands catcodes but has trouble changing them.
* Understands why \verb is so fragile, but doesn't know how to get
around it.
* Uses \futurelet, but sparingly.
* Can produce tables, but has trouble with ruled tables.
* Has read the single-dangerous bends in the TeXbook and tried to
read the double-dangerous bends with mixed success.
* Answers LaTeX questions by reading the LaTeX book.
Wizard:
* Understands the \tabalign macros in plain.tex.
* Uses \@ne and \tw@ instead of `1 ' and `2 ' in his macro packages.
* Omits the `=' from assignment statements.
* Uses \futurelet and \aftergroup without hesitation.
* Writes macro packages where nearly half of the punctuation characters
are \active.
* Writes macros that define macros.
* Writes a `boldface' macro via \def\boldface{\bgroup\bf\let\next}
* Can create ruled tables on the fly.
* Answers LaTeX questions by typing `more latex.tex'.
* Has corrected errors in the TeXbook.
* Has studied the source code to TeX but doesn't understand it all.
Guru:
* Has fixed bugs in TeX.
* Debugs other people's macro packages.
* Writes macro packages for plain text files, so that a simple
\input macros
\input file.txt
produces nicely formatted output.
* Understands the LaTeX font selection scheme.
* Answers LaTeX questions before you ask them.
* Is on a first-name basis with Don and Leslie.
(and Michael [Spivak]? Barbara [Beeton]?)kwolcott@cudnvr.denver.colorado.edu (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr28.235931.15846@csrd.uiuc.edu>, eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: > After the well-known classification of the Unix user/wizard/... > maybe it is time to start compiling the profile of the > users of TeX. Kindly consider this an opportunity to > caricature all those levels you left behind you: > > novice: still writes $a_{1}$ because Leslie Lamport says so; > user: thinks to have found a bug in TeX > > or to which you aspire: > > hacker: writes self-modifying macros > wizard: knows how to recompile TeX with a larger pool size > guru: has actually found a bug in TeX > > Mail to me, or post in reply to this message (I think > the latter is more fun). > > If the response turns out well I'll compile the results > for a piece in TUGboat, with due credit to the > contributors, of course. > > Victor. A reply rom one of the LaTeX "experts" in the Math Dept at the University of Colorado at Denver.... ============================================================================== Please reforward this back. Victor, How about: Lay-Tex: A competent user who is neither a texpert, guru, nor hacker. ? -- Dave Fisher ==============================================================================
eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) (04/30/91)
raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) writes: > * Answers LaTeX questions by reading the LaTeX book. > * Has corrected errors in the TeXbook. Ah yes. The manuals. Hacker: knows about the 'Ellen Gilkerson' entry in the index of the LaTeX book (seriously, can anyone tell me who Ellen Gilkerson is?) knows where Bo Derek can be found in the TeX book. Victor.
atk@tigger.Colorado.EDU (Alan T Krantz) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.184751.859@csrd.uiuc.edu> eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: ->raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) writes: -> ->> * Answers LaTeX questions by reading the LaTeX book. -> ->> * Has corrected errors in the TeXbook. -> ->Ah yes. The manuals. -> ->Hacker: -> ->knows about the 'Ellen Gilkerson' entry in the index ->of the LaTeX book -> (seriously, can anyone tell me who Ellen Gilkerson is?) -> And curse the nets with yet another hacker - you've got to be kidding :-)
myers@ut-emx.uucp (Eric Myers) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.104125.13569@athena.mit.edu> >At some level beyond rank amateur, but below user: > > One who writes macros (or attempts to) to make > TeX look more like (choose one: Scribe, -ms, > -me, -mm, Digital Standard Runoff...) That level should be called a "lamport," since LaTeX is just an attempt to bend TeX back into scribe. -- Eric Myers "If God had intended for man to fly He would have given us the brains to build airplanes." Center for Relativity, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin myers@emx.utexas.edu | myers@utaphy.bitnet | myers@ut-emx.UUCP
edward@priam.Berkeley.EDU (Edward Wang) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.163635.1320@agate.berkeley.edu> raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) writes:
\\User:
\\ ...
\\ * Doesn't understand why \verb is so fragile.
\\ ...
\\Hacker:
\\ ...
\\ * Has written his own macro packages, but they sometimes produce
\\ unwanted spaces in the output.
\\ ...
\\ * Understands why \verb is so fragile, but doesn't know how to get
\\ around it.
\\ ...
People who don't care to be wizards or gurus:
* Works on how to design better typesetting languages.ellard@bbn.com (Dan Ellard) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr28.235931.15846@csrd.uiuc.edu> eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: >After the well-known classification of the Unix user/wizard/... >maybe it is time to start compiling the profile of the >users of TeX. > >user: thinks to have found a bug in TeX >... >guru: has actually found a bug in TeX I would change this somewhat: Novice: has found several bugs in TeX. User: has learned to live with the bugs in TeX. Hacker: has learned not to write self-modifying macros. Wizard: knows how to recompile TeX with larger arbitrary limits. Guru: Can answer any TeX question. Uses troff when nobody is looking. -Dan
bwildasi@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Ben Wildasin) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr29.184205.100@cudnvr.denver.colorado.edu> kwolcott@cudnvr.denver.colorado.edu writes: >In article <1991Apr28.235931.15846@csrd.uiuc.edu>, eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes: > Lay-Tex: A competent user who is neither a texpert, guru, nor hacker. ^^^^^^^ I seem to recall Lamport used the term "TeXpert" in the LaTeX manual (or was it in _The Joy of TeX_?), despite Knuth's unambiguous condemnation (Ch.1, _The TeXbook_). It seems well-nigh impossible that the author of such a macro package would know how its name is pronounced (while Lamport cites "lay-tecks" as a possible pronunciation, he mentions that it is certainly not the preferred one.) -- Ben Wildasin bwildasi@ucs.indiana.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Look, my friends, I happen to know that this is the Lupin Express."
mariam@unocss.unomaha.edu (mariam) (05/01/91)
Somewhere between Novice and User we should include those who use LaTeX but claim that WordPerfect is better and that WordPerfect can do anything LaTeX does!
dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter) (05/01/91)
In article <63952@bbn.BBN.COM> ellard@labs-n.bbn.com (Dan Ellard) writes: > I would change this somewhat: So would I. > Guru: Can answer any TeX question. Uses troff when nobody is looking. No. Uses troff whether somebody is looking or not. (And does not use those fancy macro packages either.) And no, I am not a TeX guru. Not even a novice. -- dik t. winter, cwi, amsterdam, nederland dik@cwi.nl
monardo@cshl.org (Pat Monardo) (05/01/91)
>such a macro package would know how its name is pronounced (while Lamport >cites "lay-tecks" as a possible pronunciation, he mentions that it is >certainly not the preferred one.) why not? isnt it a package for safe TeX?
lmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Laurie Mann) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr29.163635.1320@agate.berkeley.edu> raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) writes: > Hacker: I prefer your definitions. I'm somewhere between a hacker and a wizard rather than a "mere user" Maybe one definition of a true TeX hacker is someone who prefers TeX to WSIWYG systems. By the end of this month, I'll be using FrameMaker full time, but I'm sure I'll still use TeX for letters, personal writing, etc. > * Is on a first-name basis with Don and Leslie. > (and Michael [Spivak]? Barbara [Beeton]?) Well, I can't think of any member of the TeX Users' Group who isn't on a first name basis with Barbara! <>[The principle of] legal subordination of one sex to the <>other--is wrong in itself...it ought to be replaced by a <>principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or <>privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other. <>The Subjection of Women (1869), John Stuart Mill *** NeXT mail: lmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com *** * Laurie_Mann@vos.stratus.com * lmann%jjmhome@m2c.m2c.org *
duchier@cs.yale.edu (Denys Duchier) (05/01/91)
> Wizard: > [...] > * Writes a `boldface' macro via \def\boldface{\bgroup\bf\let\next} Nope! He writes \def\boldface#{\bgroup\bf\let\next}. :-) --Denys
rbv@cypress.UUCP (Roger Vanderveen) (05/01/91)
Hacker: someone who wants to rewrite the TeXbook, replacing terms like "mouth" and "stomach" with terms like "scanner" and "parser" (not necessarily respectively). =============================================================================== Roger Vanderveen rbv@cypress.UUCP or San Jose, CA USA rbv%cypress@daver.bungi.com ===============================================================================
drstrip@intvax.UUCP (David R. Strip) (05/02/91)
In article <5286@lectroid.sw.stratus.com>, lmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Laurie Mann) writes: > In article <1991Apr29.163635.1320@agate.berkeley.edu> raymond@math.berkeley.edu > (Raymond Chen) writes: > > * Is on a first-name basis with Don and Leslie. > > (and Michael [Spivak]? Barbara [Beeton]?) > > Well, I can't think of any member of the TeX Users' Group > who isn't on a first > name basis with Barbara! I can't claim to know these folks first-hand, but from correspondence it would seem to me that you are talking about barbara beeton (note use of case) drstrip@cs.sandia.gov (actually I do know Michael, but that was long before TeX was created.)
price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) (05/02/91)
In article <3258@unocss.unomaha.edu>, mariam@unocss.unomaha.edu (mariam) writes: >Somewhere between Novice and User we should >include those who use LaTeX but claim that >WordPerfect is better and that WordPerfect >can do anything LaTeX does! What - you mean it *can't*??? :) John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu Where there is no solution, there is no problem.