#plaintex — Public Fediverse posts

You don’t need to be a Hans Hagen fan to use ConTeXt, but it helps. 😉

So we need to mention: Hans declared defeat in a discussion about LMTX:
No, you can’t run plain TeX with it out of the box, since it lacks kpsewhich and mktexlsr. (ConTeXt has better mechanisms for finding files.)

With ConTeXt in TeX live, you can run

mtxrun --script plain --make

to generate the plain format for LuaMetaTeX.

#LMTX #plainTeX #TeXConTeXt

@shaknais

Yes, Donald Knuth is a hero and a true renaissance man, and his TeX is an unsurpased achievement, a tool of lasting value.

Back in 1996 I took a few months off for an in-depth study of Knuth's TeX: tokens and boxes and output routines and all. I used plain TeX to write a flexible little macro package for myself, with a minimalist input syntax, set up for my own writing, tailored to my own writing needs.

I still use that same package today, 30 years later, unchanged except for project-specific adjustments. All the materials I give to my students are written in that package, all my papers. A stable writing framework for a lifetime. Few other systems have such stability and power. Thank you, Donald Knuth.

#DonaldKnuth #plainTeX #WritingTools

@ireneista

Not sure it counts, but I couldn't cope with the braces-heavy syntax of #LaTeX and wrote my own macro package in #PlainTeX. Have done books in it, all my lecture notes etc. Main design and core commands unchanged since 1997!

Syntax uses empty space and empty lines as delimiters. Eg, my source says

"\ch Introduction

In this book ..."

and TeX then typesets this as chapter 1 with title "Introduction" and "In this book ..." as first para.]

@mpjgregoire

Guilty as charged! :-) In my defense, setting up my own macros gave me control over the markup syntax. When writing, I want to use "natural markup", simple commands inserted naturally into the text. Eg, for a new chapter I write

"\chap The Framework

In this chapter, we will ..."

And if I want to \emw emphasise a single word, I simply insert the \emw command before the word. Empty spaces or empty lines act as natural delimiters.

No \begin{}\end{} straightjacket!

#PlainTeX

@mpjgregoire

Indeed. And the best thing about working in #PlainTeX is the sense of accomplishment you get when completing a standard task with your own macros --- and to do so almost as well as your buddies do with out-of-the-box #LaTeX commands. :-)

#AndWhyNot