On Sat, Jul 30, 2011, Ralph Corderoy wrote:
> simple package like ms (or perhaps mom; I've not used it)
The "I haven't used/checked out mom" thing has come up a couple of
times in this thread (with respect to introducing groff to novices),
which is funny since mom already implements most of the proposals
being made, viz:
o meaningful and humanly readable macro names
o consistent syntax for macro arguments and escapes
o capability almost never to resort to low-level groff for all but
the most complex page layouts
o heavily commented source
o documentation that provides
- a good general overview of groff, from formatted text file to
finished product
- a glossary of typesetting and groff terms
- tutorials to get users up and running with groff_mom
- complete, thorough, cross-linked descriptions of every macro
- hundreds of examples of macro usage, with recipes for special
tasks
- suggestions for when low-level groff requests may be more
appropriate than macros, with enough information to encourage
interested users to delve into the internals
- pointers to external documentation, including CSTR54, UTP, and
the info pages
In other words, mom's already the "front door": a conceptually
easy, flexible set of macros that's perfect for beginners, serves
the needs of the more experienced, and leads naturally to greater
exploration of groff itself.
--
Peter Schaffter
Author of The Binbrook Caucus
http://www.schaffter.ca
