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Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 12:28:54 +0100
From: Sebastian Rahtz <s.rahtz@ELSEVIER.CO.UK>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
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To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Subject: Re: Usage of (La)TeX (was: Multilingual TeX)
Status: R

 > seems to be widely admited: 20 000 000 of LaTeX users worldwile
 >                        and  30 000 000 of Word users.

Um, where is this `widely admitted'? its not a figure I have ever seen
before.

 > I don't agree with those who cry about the decline of TeX in the world.
 > This is absolutely wrong around me, specially in France.

Its hard for me to comment, since I know so few people who use TeX
(outside the circle of people with whom I correspond about it, like on
this list). Even sticking to academica, where my acquaintances are
largely in archaeology and computer science, I only know a couple of
people who persist with TeX; they are either purists (ie they put
explicit kerns in everything they write), or they need specific
features (like advanced math or, say, Z schemas). Otherwise they use a
word-processor, thanks very much, since it does the job almost as well.
Of course this is all `hearsay', but _can_ comment on the number of
MSS submitted to this publisher in LaTeX form - its declining.

I help a project called The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names. Their
product is typeset using LaTeX (Yannis H made it look even better for
them recently); but do they use LaTeX for their letters and reports?
do they heck. They use TeX as a black box, prepared for them by the
infamous document formatting professionals (myself and Yannis), not as
a way of life.

I entirely take the point that maths people communicate via email by
saying `x \over y'; wonderful, fine, TeX can live for ever in the
world of mathematicians. Relevance to the main body of humanity?


Sebastian