25 Years of TEX and METAFONT
Looking Back and Looking Forward

Nelson H. F. Beebe
University of Utah
beebe@math.utah.edu

Sunday July 20, 2003

Abstract

25 TEX has lasted longer than many other computer software technologies.

This talk reviews some of the history of TEX and METAFONT, how they have come to be used in practice, and what their impact has been on document markup, the Internet, and publishing.

TEX has several design deficiencies that limit its use and its audience. We look at what TEX did right, and with 25 years of hindsight, what it did wrong.

The talk closes with some observations about the challenges ahead for electronic representation of documents.

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Wendy McKay 2003-12-20