Re: "Writing my PhD using groff"

[DJ Chase]

On Sun Jul 24, 2022 at 8:06 AM EDT, G. Branden Robinson wrote:
> At 2022-07-24T03:17:44+0000, DJ Chase wrote:
> > On Sat Jul 23, 2022 at 10:08 PM EDT, G. Branden Robinson wrote:
> > > I don't think the lack of availability of troff source mattered much
> > > since groff had been out for 10 years by then, but the lack of
> > > documentation surely did.  I don't think Trent Fisher contributed
> > > the first cut of our Texinfo manual for another few years, and
> > > creating replacements for the original CSRC ms papers documenting
> > > various aspects of the system is a project that remains underway
> > > (hence why I went looking for Ted Harding recently).
> > 
> > I’ve never read the Texinfo manual; I learned *roff through Unix For
> > People,[1] then various online materials maybe half a year ago. The
> > turn-off for me was how cryptic all of the troff examples (from any
> > source) I saw were, and how it felt like I was always fighting the
> > typesetter to get it to do even basic things.
>
> As someone who's done a lot of work on the Texinfo manual (and other
> groff documentation) over the past 5 years, that is disappointing to
> hear.

I just read some of it. I wish I read it when it felt like I was
fighting with the typesetter — it’s very helpful.

> I would be curious to hear whether you think the situation has improved.
>
> I'm attaching a document that purposes to both introduce the novice to
> *roff typesetting and present all of the features of groff ms.  I'd very
> much like to know if you think the examples would have been accessible
> to you when you were a novice.

It seems that the document you attached is your GPG key in PDF form.
Could you try resending it, or if the issue is appears to be on my end,
sending a link to it?

> > [1]: https://archive.org/details/unixforpeoplemod00birn
>
> This looks really neat.  I think I may want to get my hands on a
> physical copy before the publishing cartel shuts down the Internet
> Archive's digital lending library.  (In any lawsuit, predict a judgment
> in favor of the rentier.)
>
> https://www.eff.org/cases/hachette-v-internet-archive

Good luck; It’s out of print and physical copies are very hard to
come by.

Cheers,
-- 
DJ Chase
They, Them, Theirs