Philip Taylor writes:
 > >>  b) please lets have portable programs written in the genuinely
 > >>     popular langauges, viz TeX or C++
 >
 > Please let's have portable programs written in the genuinely
 > PORTABLE languages; popularity is completely irrelevant.

no, its not irrelevant at all. if language X is popular, the reliable
compilers/interpreters become widely available. hence the program becomes
portable. its called a _de facto standard_.....

sebastian