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- From: support@tug.org (TeX Users Group)
- Newsgroups: comp.text.tex,comp.answers,news.answers
- Subject: [comp.text.tex] (La)TeX FAQs and answers: links and pointers
- Supersedes: <text/tex/pointers-1-1011627126@tug.org>
- Followup-To: comp.text.tex
- Date: 15 Mar 2002 00:00:03 +0100
- Organization: TeX Users Group
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- Summary: This introduction to comp.text.tex contains pointers to other
- sources of information on TeX, LaTeX, DVI processors,
- mathematical typography, and related topics.
- Keywords: TeX, LaTeX, DVI, mathematical typography, faq
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.text.tex:231238 comp.answers:49245 news.answers:226474
-
- Posted-By: auto-faq 3.3 (Perl 5.006)
- Archive-name: text/tex/pointers
- Revision: 1.6 2001/05/07 13:08:52
- Copyright: public domain
- Posting-Frequency: monthly
- URL: http://tug.org/tex-ptr-faq
-
- Pointers to Frequently Asked and Answered Questions
- comp.text.tex
-
- Table of Contents
-
- * What is TeX?
- * Where can I obtain TeX?
- * What is LaTeX/AMS-TeX/Texinfo/etc.?
- * What is CTAN?
- * Where can I find information about TeX user organizations?
- * Where can I find a _real_ FAQ?
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * What is TeX ?
-
- TeX is a typesetting program designed for high-quality composition
- of material that contains a lot of mathematical and technical
- expressions. It has been adopted by many authors and publishers who
- generate technical books and papers. It was created by Professor
- Donald Knuth of Stanford University, originally for preparation of
- his book series "The Art of Computer Programming". TeX has been
- made freely available by Knuth in a generic form.
- For more information about Donald Knuth, see
- http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/index.html
-
- TeX produces a "DeVice Independent" (DVI) file as output. This file
- contains only positioning information and pointers to fonts, text
- characters and rules, and must be translated to a device-specific
- form for printing or display.
-
- TeX implementations are governed by the principle that the same input
- should produce the same output, modulo font availability and output
- device resolution. All implementations wishing to call themselves
- "TeX" must pass a "trip test" that assures adherence to these
- guidelines.
-
- TeX has been tailored for and installed on almost every platform
- (computer + operating system) that one can imagine, and is available
- as freeware, shareware and commercial implementations. The TeX program
- is usually accompanied by other software to form a complete and usable
- system. This software is not listed in this FAQ; see below for
- references to where more information can be found.
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * Where can I obtain TeX ?
-
- A list of freeware and shareware implementations can be found on the
- web at
-
- http://www.tug.org/interest.html#free
-
- A list of commercial vendors can be found at
-
- http://www.tug.org/interest.html#vendors
-
- Additional information can be found in the on-line FAQ compiled and
- maintained by volunteers from the UK TeX Users Group (see below).
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * What is LaTeX/AMS-TeX/Texinfo/etc. ?
-
- The TeX program itself is a macro compiler. This engine is always
- required when processing any of the macro systems described below.
-
- TeX input consists of a stream of mixed commands and text. Commands
- can be defined for many purposes, not the least important of which
- is to permit input to be structured in a logical manner, allowing an
- author to concentrate on content rather than on typographic appearance.
-
- The most popular such macro set is LaTeX. This tool provides several
- predefined document classes (book, article, report) with extensive
- sectioning and cross-referencing capabilities, and auxiliary tools for
- such processes as bibliography and index creation. Originally created
- by Leslie Lamport, LaTeX is now maintained by a small group of
- volunteers headed by Frank Mittelbach and Chris Rowley. The current
- version identifies itself when it starts up as LaTeX 2e; older versions
- may still exist, but are not recommended for creating new documents.
- The current LaTeX distribution is always available from CTAN (see below).
-
- AMS-TeX and AMS-LaTeX are macro collections developed at the American
- Mathematical Society for preparing publications containing extensive
- mathematical content. AMS-TeX works directly with TeX, and AMS-LaTeX
- works on top of LaTeX. More information on these collections can be
- found at the AMS web site, http://www.ams.org/tex/; they are also
- mirrored at CTAN.
-
- Texinfo is the documentation format created by the GNU project. This
- macro set is designed to generate both print and on-line output (an
- "Info file", HTML, plain text, ...) from a single source file.
- Texinfo is integrated with GNU emacs, and that editor can be used (but
- is not required) both to read Info files and create Texinfo source.
- For more information, see http://www.gnu.org
-
- See the section "Where can I find a real FAQ?" for pointers to more
- information.
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * What is CTAN ?
-
- CTAN is the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network.
-
- CTAN consists of several primary hosts and many more mirror sites.
- The backbone sites coordinate their holdings with the intention that
- the material at one site is never more than 24 hours out of phase
- with the primary host of record. All primary hosts and mirror sites
- are connected to the Internet and are accessible by anonymous FTP;
- most sites are also accessible via the World Wide Web.
-
- At present, these are the primary CTAN hosts:
-
- ftp host CTAN root Sponsor/location
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
- ftp.dante.de /tex-archive DANTE, e.V. (Heidelberg, Germany)
- ftp.tex.ac.uk /tex-archive Cambridge University (U.K.)
- ctan.tug.org /tex-archive TeX Users Group (Vermont, U.S.A.)
-
- A current list of all CTAN sites can be found in the file CTAN.sites
- located in the CTAN root area on all of these hosts. Or you can
- finger ctan@ctan.org to get the mirror list.
-
- Also in the root area of a CTAN site are several files giving the
- complete directory of the site's holdings:
-
- FILES.bydate arranged in date order, most recent first
- FILES.byname arranged in order of the directory tree
- FILES.bysize arranged in order by size, largest first
-
- In addition, the file FILES.last07days highlights the recent additions
- and changes to the archive. These FILES.* files are refreshed nightly.
- Please note that references in these files, and in general all CTAN
- references, are specified relative to the CTAN root. Thus at the
- primary hosts, a file listed as info/latex.hlp would be found in
- /tex-archive/info/latex.hlp on the core sites; the root isn't
- necessarily in the same place at mirror sites.
-
- A web interface to CTAN can be found at
-
- http://www.ctan.org/
-
- This page contains a link to the CTAN search facility, and will also
- help you identify a CTAN site close to your location.
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * Where can I find information about TeX user organizations ?
-
- The oldest such organization, the TeX Users Group (TUG), currently
- has its office in Portland, Oregon, USA. TUG publishes a quarterly
- journal, TUGboat, holds an annual meeting, and sponsors other
- activities from time to time. Check the web page
-
- http://www.tug.org/
-
- There are many "local" TeX user groups. The oldest and largest of
- these are in western Europe, and most have their own web sites:
-
- DANTE (Germany): http://www.dante.de/
- GUTenberg (France): http://www.gutenberg.eu.org/
- NTG (Netherlands): http://www.ntg.nl/
- UK TeX User's Group (UK): http://www.tex.ac.uk/UKTUG/
-
- More groups are being formed all the time. A comprehensive list is
- given at
-
- http://www.tug.org/lugs.html
-
-
- --------------------
-
- * Where can I find a _real_ FAQ ?
-
- As may be fairly obvious by now, the present collection of information
- is not going to answer any serious questions about using TeX or finding
- particular TeX tools. There are several resources much better equipped
- and maintained for that purpose.
-
- There are three serious FAQ collections available in as many languages
- and various formats. Anyone with a specific question about TeX and
- friends is directed to one of those sources.
-
- In English, the FAQ of record has been compiled and is maintained by
- volunteers from the UK TeX Users Group. A searchable on-line version
- can be found at
-
- http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
-
- A printable version is available from CTAN, in
-
- help/uk-tex-faq/newfaq.ps (for A4 paper)
- help/uk-tex-faq/newfaq.pdf (likewise)
- help/uk-tex-faq/letterfaq.ps (for U.S. letter-size paper)
- help/uk-tex-faq/letterfaq.pdf (likewise)
-
- A French LaTeX FAQ, maintained by B. Bayart and updated monthly, can
- be found at
-
- http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/FAQ-LaTeX/.
-
- The French group, GUTenberg (Groupe des Utilisateurs francophones de
- TeX) has a web site called the (La)TeX navigator, "Une encyclopedie
- (La)TeX", at
-
- http://tex.loria.fr/
-
- A German "DE-TeX-/DANTE-FAQ" is posted monthly to the newsgroup
- de.comp.text.tex, and is available at the usual FAQ archives as well
- as in de.answers and news.answers. A copy can also be found at
-
- http://www.dante.de/faq/de-tex-faq/
-
-
- --------------------
-
- This file will be posted monthly to comp.text.tex, and archived in the
- usual newsgroup archives. It will be updated as necessary, but not
- extended; maintenance of a comprehensive FAQ for all phases of TeX is
- beyond the capability of a single person. The pointers given above
- should be more than adequate to help one find answers to most frequently
- asked questions; other questions can be directed to the newsgroup.
-
-
- Compiled by Barbara Beeton (bnb@ams.org)
-
- Last updated 7 May 2001
-