[tex-live] free software, DFSG

[Sebastian Rahtz]

Charley Bay wrote:

> IMHO, yes, there *is* a future for high quality
> typesetting as TeX provides.  The rapid surge in HTML
> popularity doesn't mean HTML displaces typesetting
> (fads and technology come and go... all the HTML
> authored intranets of the 1990's are dying now).

are being replaced by? services that deliver stuff to you
using (X)HTML, perhaps?  I would argue very strongly that
the web _has_ done away with, probably for ever, a large
proportion of the uses for TeX in its first 20 years.


> I still have questions about other parts of the 
> landscape:  What about some of the 'commercial'
> distributions? 
no serious innovation for years, I believe

> What about alternative typesetting
> technologies?  

the publishing world is getting behind XSL FO slowly.
its not TeX, but several of the implementations use
some of the TeX algorithms (paragraph makeup, hyphenation).

 > I don't have a good handle on where
> this type of strategic discussion takes place,
> though.  Is there a list to talk about these
> 'possible strategic directions' or archives that I
> could peruse?

TeX lists tends to start with the assumption that "we've got 
TeX, we've got some problems, let's fix TeX". Other lists
might be more like "we've got problems, what software is out 
there to solve them". See, its hard to find a really 
objective forum.

-- 
Sebastian Rahtz      Information Manager
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431