[comp.text.tex] TeX and LaTeX

eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) (01/14/91)

maschler@VMS.HUJI.AC.IL (MICHAEL MASCHLER) writes:

>In article <1991Jan11.174901.6071@csrd.uiuc.edu>, eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Vi
>ctor Eijkhout) writes...
>>Douglas.Miller@viccol.edu.au (Douglas Miller) writes:
>>
>>>You should use LaTeX or DOCUMENT, not TeX
>>
>>Using LaTeX is using TeX. You probably mean 'plain TeX'.

>Judging from the many questions I see in comp.text.tex and other places,
>of the type "how do you do this and that in Latex?" I would answer -- switch
>to plain TeX.

The general character of those questions is cosmetic. How do I indent,
set margins, whatever.
It is very well to use plain TeX if you are good enough a programmer
to make your own cross-referencing macros and table of contents,
but for the mere mortals who can't do that, LaTeX (and lately Lams-TeX)
is the only choice. I would never want to live without that
sort of macros anyway. The time of checking references in the text by hand
is long past!

Maybe Phyzzx and TeXsis are a way out:
they are add-on products to plain TeX, and probably have things
like table of contents.

Victor.