[comp.text.tex] TEX availability

brandon@wa4mei.UUCP (Brandon Rhodes) (09/04/90)

How can I get the most recent version of TeX besides ftp, which my
site does not yet support?

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dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) (09/04/90)

In article <815@wa4mei.UUCP>, brandon@wa4mei.UUCP (Brandon Rhodes) writes...
>How can I get the most recent version of TeX besides ftp, which my
>site does not yet support?

For what system do you want it?

I'll assume Unix since that makes up the bulk of the Usenet
readership and direct you to the University of Washington Unix
TeX distribution:

TeX for Unix is available from the University of Washington. It
is up-to-date (TeX 3.0, MF 2.0), contains detailed installation
instructions and support is available if you have problems. Money
from the distribution tapes goes towards funding the support
hotline and future Unix TeX development.

For more information, contact Elisabeth Tachikawa,
elisabet@max.acs.washington.edu

If you're looking for TeX for another system, post again (note:
do _not_ send the query directly to me or I'll respond with a
polite note indicating that I cannot respond to direct inquiries
unless they're paid for.)

-dh

---
Don Hosek                       TeX, LaTeX, and Metafont support, consulting 
dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu       installation and production work. 
dhosek@ymir.bitnet              Free Estimates.
uunet!jarthur!ymir              Phone: 714-625-0147
                                finger dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu for more info

ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) (09/04/90)

In article <8260@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> dhosek@sif.claremont.edu writes:
>In article <815@wa4mei.UUCP>, brandon@wa4mei.UUCP (Brandon Rhodes) writes...
>>How can I get the most recent version of TeX besides ftp, which my
>>site does not yet support?
>
>For what system do you want it?

That's a pretty good question...is version 3 available in a messdos port yet?

I'm playing around with UltraScript PC, trying to get some experience with
PostScript, but I get the feeling I ought to implement TeX on this '286 box,
too.

Looks like it's time for a bigger disk, too....   ;^)


					Thankee,
					    d


--
   "If caving in the Guads is like heaven, caving in Lechuguilla is like
	having sex with the gods when you get there."
				-- Dan Legnini, Windy City Grotto, 1990
   Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu

dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) (09/04/90)

In article <1990Sep4.041616.11547@ariel.unm.edu>, ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) writes...
>In article <8260@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> dhosek@sif.claremont.edu writes:
>>In article <815@wa4mei.UUCP>, brandon@wa4mei.UUCP (Brandon Rhodes) writes...
>>>How can I get the most recent version of TeX besides ftp, which my
>>>site does not yet support?

>>For what system do you want it?

>That's a pretty good question...is version 3 available in a messdos port yet?

>I'm playing around with UltraScript PC, trying to get some experience with
>PostScript, but I get the feeling I ought to implement TeX on this '286 box,
>too.

>Looks like it's time for a bigger disk, too....   ;^)

OK, time for the periodic Jon Radel plug...

Public domain software for IBM PCs (and I believe he is beginning
to carry stuff for other small machines as well) is available
from Jon Radel. He has the five public domain versions of TeX and
numerous other items. For more information write to 
  Jon Radel
  P.O. Box 2276
  Reston, VA 22090-0276 (USA)
or send e-mail to jradel@hmcvax.claremont.edu (a new e-mail
address... this one is sanctioned by the authorities so is
guaranteed to be around a while).

OK, now the various versions of TeX. I have little direct
experience with the bulk of these packages (the only one I've
used in for actual work is PCTeX and that not much), so I may
make mistakes. The information is gathered mostly from
documentation, advertisements (I assume they tell the truth) and
discussion on the net, so if anyone has any corrections, please
let me know and I'll correct this (I'm actually going to start
keeping this as a file instead of re-doing it from memory each
time the question is asked.)  Note that DVI drivers included with
one system can generally be used with any of the TeXs listed
(e.g., one could use the emTeX drivers with PubliCTeX, say).
Packages are listed in alphabetical order by name. Unless
otherwise noted, commercial versions are available from TUG.

Commmontex. Jon Radel reports that the PC version does not pass
trip. In any event, it's only around v2.1 (or at least that's the
latest version Jon has been able to get working under MS-DOS
according to the last catalog I got from him). I suspect the
whole effort was quietly abandoned with the advent of WEB2C.

DosTeX. This is a shareware implementation of TeX. I'm not sure
if it's been updated to TeX 3.0 or not. It includes the ability
to make preloaded executables for LaTeX, AmSTeX, etc. There is
also a DosMF.

emTeX. In addition to TeX, there is also a version of MF, "big"
versions of both TeX and MF (internal arrays have been modified
to permit main memory arrays greater than the normal maximum... I
forget what the sizes are, but they are slower) and I think there
are also different executables for 286 and 386 based systems.
This is public domain. Also distributed with it are numerous
device drivers (I forget exactly what's included, but I will be
spending some time in the next week pulling this apart so I can
list it in the drivers column) and a picture editor and possibly
a few other items. Includes TeX 3.0 and MF 2.0.

$\mu$-TeX. (Formerly Micro-TeX). I don't really know too much
about this since Arbortext hasn't seemed to be pushing it very
much in their TUGboat advertising. The thing that sets it apart,
as near as I can tell, is the fact that one can integrate it with
an editor and previewer for an Amiga TeX-like environment. It
runs $249 and is TeX 3.0.

PCTeX. This is the oldest version of TeX for the PC (just barely
edging out $\mu$-TeX (nee MicroTeX) for the title). The current
release comes in three incarnations. The normal TeX (v3.0) which
has 128K of main memory and is roughly the same speed as sbTeX
and emTeX or slightly faster (I saw a speed chart from the DAnTe
newsletter in College Station which compared the speeds of these
and a few others which is how I know this. I believe they
compared the versions of this spring and Personal TeX claims that
they've boosted the speed by 10%, so I guess that it may now be
slightly faster, I don't know for sure though), a version of TeX
for the 386 with 128K of main memory and "Big" TeX for the 386
with 240K of main memory. They also have a version of MF. Prices
are $249, $299 and $349 for the three versions of TeX.

PubliCTeX. This is the only WEB version of TeX for PC in the
public domain that includes source. It's also slower than
molasses (I'm very sure it was at the bottom of the DAnTe
newsletter chart). On the other hand, if you want to hack with
TeX's insides and don't want to spend money...

SBTeX. I think this version of TeX was marginally faster than
emTeX although the last upgrade to emTeX may have changed that
(hint to someone out there: it would be really neat to see a real
comparison of the various versions of TeX for the PC in a future
issue of TUGboat). This distribution is a minimal distribution
rather than the hefty package distributed with emTeX, so you'll
be getting more things rather than clearing things out.

TeX 4 386. (Actually the 4 should be superscripted, but oh well).
The ad says "A 'fat TeX' for 386 machines with 4 MEG of RAM".
There was a more detailed note, but I didn't think to take it,
not realizing until I was on the plane back to LA that they
actually had a _different_ TeX implementation available. I assume
it's TeX 3.0 and it costs $50. This may not be available from TUG
so I'll include the vendor's address: TeXplorators Corporation;
3701 W. Alabama; Suite 450-273; Houston, TX 77027 (USA).

TeXPLUS. This is a rewrite of TeX in CWEB. I think they include
source. They do have TeX 3.0 and it may be a "big" TeX. I don't
know anyone who uses this (although someone must or they wouldn't
be able to afford the big ads in TUGboat). Included in the
purchase price are HP and PostScript drivers and an editor ($195,
$295 with a previewer).

TurboTeX. This is an automated translation into C of TeX. The
package includes TeX, MF, a few-odd drivers and some good
documentation (Kinch, the creator of the package, makes a
persuasive argument against WYSIWYG). It is slow, but a decent
tack to take if you want to hack TeX since it's not too expensive
with source option and at least faster than PubliC TeX (I would
choose this over TeXPLUS for PC TeX source hacking since the code
you'll be working with is that actually _in_ TeX the book, rather
than the CWEB translation. You might choose otherwise). $150,
$300 w/source.

There are also a few other versions of TeX which I don't have
information on hand for that are offered for prices in the
$30-$150 range. I suspect these are largely repackaged PD
versions. Anyway, since all I have handy is the TUG price list
and some fliers from the TUG meeting, I don't have any
information on those.

The address for TUG is:
  TeX Users Group
  P.O. Box 9506
  Providence, RI 02940
  401-751-7760
  tug@math.ams.com
Part of the costs of Jon Radel's efforts is subsidized by TUG.

-dh

---
Don Hosek                       TeX, LaTeX, and Metafont support, consulting 
dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu       installation and production work. 
dhosek@ymir.bitnet              Free Estimates.
uunet!jarthur!ymir              Phone: 714-625-0147
                                finger dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu for more info

pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk (Piercarlo Grandi) (09/17/90)

On 4 Sep 90 06:27:57 GMT, dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) said:

dhosek> Commontex. Jon Radel reports that the PC version does not pass
dhosek> trip.

This is very strange -- the UNIX version does, but for minor differences
in the last few digits of some floating point numbers etc...

    I think that the trip test itself is a disgrace however, because it
    essentially requires any "conforming" TeX implementation to have the
    same extremely baroque user interface as the Pascal/WEB one.

    Testing for conformity should be based on ensuring that the input
    language accepted is the same, and the DVI output produces
    similar-looking printouts.

    I had considered giving CommonTeX 2.1 a more terse and elegant user
    interface, but did not, because then the coveted (if absurdly
    defined) trip-test compatibility would have been lost.

dhosek> In any event, it's only around v2.1 (or at least that's the
dhosek> latest version Jon has been able to get working under MS-DOS
dhosek> according to the last catalog I got from him).

CommonTeX release numbers bear no relationship to Pascal/WEB TeX ones;
release 2.1 is essentially equivalent to Pascal/WEB TeX 2.9.

dhosek> I suspect the whole effort was quietly abandoned with the advent
dhosek> of WEB2C.

This would have been unfortunate -- the WEB2C confusion is a disgrace.
Also, the much preferable route to get a C TeX from the Pascal/WEB one
nowadays is to use Gillespie's p2c translator, which does a much better
(simpler use, more readable output) job.

Fortunately I think you are wrong -- I have read that the author (a
meritorious person!) has actually upgraded CommonTex so that it no
longer uses the same internal structure as Pascal/WEB TeX, and, to great
advantage in flexibility and speed, actually allocates records as needed
from the heap using malloc or something similar.

I have a profound antipathy for Pascal/WEB TeX, and I liked CommonTeX
2.1, even if I ultimately stuck with troff because the input language is
vastly simpler (I had thought that a more difficult input language than
troff's was an impossible feat, until I read the TeXbook :-/), and is
twice as slow as troff (another feat that I thought impossible,
especially considering that all TeX implementations precompile their
macro packages, while the ditroff I am using does not -- notice though
that CommonTeX is actually faster than Pascal/WEB TeX by a good margin).

	Note that much of the slowness could be attributed to the lack
	of a floating point coprocessor in my machine, which probably
	impacts a TeX implementation much more than a troff one -- but
	then that a text processor be floating point intensive seems to
	be an original defect, to me.

I would be very interested in any updated CommonTeX, especially if it
so much faster as to be comptetitive with troff, or at least does not
have hard coded limits to the size of its tables.
--
Piercarlo "Peter" Grandi           | ARPA: pcg%uk.ac.aber.cs@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
Dept of CS, UCW Aberystwyth        | UUCP: ...!mcsun!ukc!aber-cs!pcg
Penglais, Aberystwyth SY23 3BZ, UK | INET: pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk