[tex-live] Re: [tex-k] TeX finding filenames with spaces

[Sebastian Rahtz]

Gerben Wierda wrote:

> Then I would investigate talking seriously with Knuth about this.. Maybe 
> Knuth would be willing to secede control to a foundation with a charter 
> that protects TeX while giving it possibilities to adapt to necessary 
> changes in the computing world.

It is possible a new approach to Knuth might have an effect, but I doubt 
it. So far as I can tell, DEK is simply not interested in this problem. 
He made TeX, it is what it is. It is like telling David Hockney to go 
back and touch up his early work, because we don't like that shade of 
pink now. TeX is a frozen art work, not a living tool...

> Or else going on without Knuth (if at all possible, license wise)

That's what Omega, e-TeX and pdfTeX are. Unfortunately, e-TeX is also 
effectively dead (its authors seem to have lost interest some years ago, 
and they also have a crazy non-license).
Omega is, well, who knows, alive, dead, gone to the moon; perhaps
most accurately characterized as sitting in an opium den in a 
drug-crazed dream...  (hello, all Omega developers who read this :-}).

pdfTeX is alive and well, and the best place to work, IMHO, but
it sits on top of eTeX and TeX, and it would be better to make changes 
lower down like this.

Oh, I am enjoying myself today.

(a brontosaurus, since you ask, Gerben)
-- 
Sebastian Rahtz      Information Manager
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431