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Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
David Kastrup <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 22 Jan 2003 12:58:31 +0100
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        Frank Mittelbach <[log in to unmask]> writes:


> anyway, all that struggling nicely vanishes if one uses eTeX version
> 2. so why not do that and have a package that tests for eTeX and if
> it finds out that it doesn't run under eTeX emits a warning (at the
> beginning and end of the run), eg
>
> \typeout{********************************************************^^J%
> *^^J%
> * WARNING: ^^J%
> *^^J%
> * \@spaces The inpmath package was written to support 8bit^^J%
>
> questions:
>
>  a) any obvious problems with this approach?

Yes.  You guys crack me up.  The inputenc package is a vital part of
LaTeX.  If it does not work well without eTeX and complains about this
with an appropriate warning, that means that non-eTeX-2 should
officially be declared deprecated with due warning time.

My original proposal of doing such a declaration for the next LaTeX
release was violently opposed.  Now you propose to do something
equivalent, only without prior warning, and actually without
announcing it anywhere properly?

If we will agree that a good implementation needs to rely on eTeX and
that inputenc will give out a warning like that, then it would be not
only fair to announce officially that LaTeX should use eTeX starting
with the next release if available, but also announce this information
on tex-implementors at the very least in order to give the commercial
parties a chance to come up with something for their customers when
the next LaTeX release happens.

And we would want to give out notice to people like Thomas Esser also:
the next teTeX release is imminent, and occurs typically only every
few years or so.  At the very least it would be very desirable to
have a fit-for-dummies way or instructions to change the LaTeX engine
to eTeX for the case that people want to upgrade their LaTeX in
June.  This should happen before teTeX-final.

So we better come fast to grips about that matter.  Even if it is
just a "likely" thing to happen, notice should get out in time.  And
that would mean very soon.

--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

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