Re: A file suffix for troff's output. (Was: pdfroff in groff 1.23.0.rc3 changes compared to 1.22.4)

[Steve Izma]

On Mon, Apr 10, 2023 at 10:03:34AM +0100, Ralph Corderoy wrote:
> Subject: A file suffix for troff's output. (Was: pdfroff in groff
>  1.23.0.rc3 changes compared to 1.22.4)
> 
>     troff chapter.tr >chapter.set
>     grops chapter.set >chapter.ps
> 
> Short, simple, not already widely used by another program,
> pronounceable, a clear derivation.

Maybe I'm mis-reading the problem here, but Postscript output
from groff in my experience has always been a temporary file. I
am usually working on several projects at once, with output file
names that never seem to clash, so all of my output files from
groff processing automatically go to /home/ps. This

- works as a kind of tmp directory (but clear of all system tmp
  files);
- is under the /home hierarchy so can be easily added to backups
  if I feel it necessary (almost always not);
- can be easily cleared out, either entirely or according to age
  (presuming age = possible obsolescence);
- follows what I think is a clearer way of defining the nature of
  a file: it's location within the filesystem hierarchy, identity
  defined by its parent's name (i.e., "ps");
- utilities like ps2pdf do not require suffixed files for input
  validation;
- it's worked for me with virtual no problem for over 30 years
  (but I'm only one test case, I guess).

So why all the fuss? One could also argue that a Postscript file
is a text file and I avoid .txt extensions as much as possible.
After all, as far as I can tell, .txt was a Microsoft invention,
another step in Bill Gates's war to obstruct Unix conventions.
And under Unix one could reasonably argue that an un-suffixed
file outside of bin directories was by default a text file.

The same argument holds for putting troff source files into a tr
subdirectory of your project directory. That keeps the main
project directory uncluttered.

        -- Steve

-- 
Steve Izma
-
Home: 35 Locust St., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada  N2H 1W6
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