Message-ID:  <199812021616.LAA19326@hilbert.math.albany.edu>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Date:         Wed, 2 Dec 1998 11:16:08 -0500
From: "William F. Hammond" <hammond@CSC.ALBANY.EDU>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L
              <LATEX-L@URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Subject:      Re: What is "base" LaTeX
Status: R

Hans Aberg <haberg@MATEMATIK.SU.SE> writes:

: Your description seems to indicate what I think is the case, TeX/LaTeX is
: used when one gets serious in the sense that one has this manuscript in
: which the details must come out right. WYSIWYG does then normally not
: suffice, at least not with the math details, so TeX comes into place.

These fussy things can, in fact, almost always be handled well with
*correct* LaTeX, as documented in Lamport's book.  The "Companion" is
for added authoring convenience.

: I think it is well-known by now, that all these mass-consumer movements,
: which the *ML currently represents, usually lacks crucial quality.
: Eventually such quality might built in, of course.

Only because very few elitist mathematicians have been involved (up to
now).

: But until then, there will be a need for TeX/LaTeX.

And beyond then, as well!

                                   -- Bill