[comp.text.tex] Alternative to splitting the group

Damian.Cugley@prg.ox.ac.uk (Damian Cugley) (02/12/91)

From:		Victor Eijkhout <eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu>
Message-Id:	<1991Feb9.213647.22482@csrd.uiuc.edu>

> But then, I'm tired of all these people asking:
> - where do I get TeX for the XYZ computer
> - how do I use Postscript
> - who has a modedef for the ABC (read: ln03) printer

As an alternative to a massive TeX hierarchy (I'm beginning to agree
that this is a BAD idea), howabout the alternative, which is conventional
prefixes for subject lines?  (THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION.)

"Where can I get foo?" or "which version of foo is best?" starts with
"foo?", where foo is one of:

    Subject: driver?  for Spanodyne InkVom 66-ABC
    Subject: modedef?  for SpLAT-o-matic 880006F with Ink-Splatter(TM)
    Subject: font?  how do I get the Washingtoon IPA fonts?
    Subject: font?  Cyrillic
    Subject: TeX?  good PD MS-DOS TeX needed FAST
    Subject: TeX?  which PD TeX is best?
    Subject: TeX?  Alternatives to Textures?
    Subject: style?  Need style file for old-style figures
    Subject: macro?  EBNF formulas
				-- plain TeX (i.e., NOT LaTeX)
    Subject: LaTeX?  EBNF formula environment
    Subject: symbol?  Need curly Q with three stars inside it, underlined
    Subject: symbol?  \bigsqcap
    Subject: doc?  Need info on TeX 3.0
    Subject: doc?  Need better LaTeX manual
		-- i.e., requests for documents of various sorts
    Subject: previewer?  for Sun-4s with UselessWindows(R), colour
    
"macro" means plain TeX -- or rather, TeX as used by people who write
their own macros, rather than using LaTeX or AmSTeX.

Replies will look like Subject: Re:  TeX?  which PD TeX is best?

If you know what you want by name but can't find a source:

    Subject: ftp?  need bongo.sty
    Subject: ftp?  Washingtoon IPA fonts?
    Subject: mail?  Where can I get bongo.sty in the UK?

Conversely when announcing something as available (as opposed to just
replying to one of the above), you might use the same conventional
words, but with "new" or "!"  or something:

    Subject: new font!  New version of Computer Bedser
    SUbject: new ftp!  New TeX archives on frog.wombat.edu
    Subject: new style!  Railroad diagrams

And any question or disucssion relating to LaTeX usage should have LaTeX
-- not (La)TeX or La/TeX or latex or (la)TEX or LATeX -- in the first 40
characters or so of the "Subject:" line.  Ditto specific computers
(Macs, MS-DOS boxes...), programs (xdvi, dvi7ps, ispell...), and
PostScript.  "bug" for things of interest only to wizardly types.
Use MS-DOS rather than PC to cut down Amigan flamage.

    Subject: xdvi using grayscale?
    Subject: PostScript fonts - trouble with TeX character codes
    Subject: Mac graphics in LaTeX
    Subject: LaTeX questions
    Subject: LaTeX - setting proofs from formal logic
    Subject: Amiga - new version of PasTeX available
    Subject: sbTeX - trip test
    Subject: emTeX - mailservers in USA
    Subject: MS-Word <-> TeX conversion?