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Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <[log in to unmask]>
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 10:27:15 +0100
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From: Javier Bezos <[log in to unmask]>
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>> One of the goals of the LaTeX3 project is to
>>
>> "...provide access to arbitrary fonts from any family (such as the
>> POSTSCRIPT and TrueType fonts) including a wide range of fonts for
>> multi-lingual documents and the specialist glyphs required by
>> documents in various technical and academic areas."
>>
>> Currently the only typesetting engine capable to provide these
>> facilities is Omega.
>
> actually, within an appropriate universe of discourse, one can claim
> that tex itself does just the same.  what omega adds in this area is
> ease of dealing with fonts appropriate to exotic languages (for some
> definition of "exotic").

IMO, adopting Omega for the coming LaTeX3 could provide the quantum
leap TeX and LaTeX need. TeX is definitely stalled, despite the
many and useful improvements thanks to \special, and Omega allows
to automate lots of tasks required by non-"exotic" languages like
Spanish (so that I can write ''contrarreloj´´ instead of
''contra"rreloj´´´), German ("ck) or Portugese. Particularly
annoying is Turkish, where you must write ''f{}i´´ always (or
modify several hundreds of metric files...).

>> So, is it reasonable to assume that the LaTeX3
>> will be actually an Omega format?

I dream about that. Multilingual support for a dual TeX/Omega
LaTeX could be a mess to users and developpers. But I'm
just dreaming, since the LaTeX team has said in this list that
LaTeX3 will be a dual system.

> since work is already under way to consider the issues involved in
> mounting existing latex on omega, i would expect latex3 will also run
> over omega.  i do not expect latex3 to be an omega-exclusive format:
> indeed, i would imagine that any such restriction would constitute a
> kiss of death to latex3 ... and it's going to have a hard enough time
> of it in any case ;-)

I think exactly the opposite -- Omega will give live to LaTeX while
"old" TeX will be a burden.

Javier

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