[XeTeX] XeTeX in lshort

[Philip Taylor (Webmaster, Ret'd)]

Philipp Stephani wrote:

> In TeX you cannot state the structure because TeX is a low-level
 > typesetting system that offers only a few low-level primitives
 > and a macro language.

If "TeX offered only a few low-level primitives", I would have
been willing to accept that your argument might have merit, but
you yourself then go on to say (quite correctly) "and a macro
language".  And it is precisely /because/ of TeX's macro language
that one can express the exact structure of any document, using
either a mutually interchangeable set of conventions such as LaTeX
or Context, or using a private macro package of one's own.  Many
choose one of the first two options, I prefer the third, but all
of us are able to express document structure in TeX.

Yes, there are still a few  unenlightened souls who continue to write

	\bigskip \Huge My Title \\ \Large and my sub-title \medskip \bf \centerline {Abstract}

but fortunately they are now an endangered species :-)

Philip Taylor