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Subject:
From:
Hans Aberg <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 13 Oct 1997 13:06:34 +0200
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Robin Fairbairns <[log in to unmask]>:
>>  But really few uses non-GUI these days, even on UNIX, and the GUI's are
>> much easier to use; and ease of communication is the true purpose.
...
>GUIs are designed for people who can't type, and those whose hands
>haven't (yet) given way to the abuse of for ever being switched
>between usages, and don't have other physical problems with their
>arms/wrists/hands.

  I think you have misunderstood GUI's: It is a long time people thought
GUI's should replace other means of input, such as typing. Different
techniques complement each other.

  Keeping it in touch with the LaTeX project, the problem you have to face
with your attitude is that we see an ongoing evolution, where the graphical
features more and more become available:

  I recall that in the mid 80's, somebody had sent Knuth a letter, and he
said, which was funny in those days, that he received a typeset letter
[which said Knuth does not reply to letters anymore]. But who would react
like that to a "typeset letter" in these days? It is becoming more and more
the opposite.

  Now, we see the same evolution coming by in email communications. The
ideas developed in TeX and LaTeX will be more and more available there too.
When the use of those new protocols becomes abundant, one will have that as
a standard for email communications, and those hard-dyers will have a hard
time asking everyone for specially non-styled email. I have seen this
happen before, with the national glyphs, having diacritical marks, as in
Swedish. Before MIME, people would use different ASCII based systems; one
could try using 8-bit, but it does not really work out on the Internet.
Then comes MIME, and there is a chaotic period, where some use it, and
others do not. At a later stage, few would use those old non-MIME systems.
One could also think of the change LaTeX209 -> LaTeX2e.

 :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

  Remember that the typeset output of TeX and LaTeX is the old times GUI;
the only difference is that it is not interactive. In mathematics, one
started to use that, because it can be used to better communicate the
logical contents.

  So, if you hate GUI's so much, why do not strip all that graphical out of
TeX and LaTeX too; it would simplify the discussions in this group
enormously -- they would not be needed. :-)

 :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

  Hans Aberg
                  * AMS member listing: <http://www.ams.org/cml/>
                  * Email: Hans Aberg <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

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