[XeTeX] XeTeX documentation "initiative"

[David Perry]

I have read this discussion with great interest.  After two-plus years 
of working hard at learning Xe(La)TeX, the learning curve is finally 
starting to flatten.  So I am certainly in favor of improved 
documentation or anything else that will help beginners.  Having a 
comprehensive XeTeX manual would be wonderful; not having a one-stop 
reference unquestionably made my learning more difficult, as did the 
need to filter out old material that was not relevant (LaTeX font 
handling, babel, etc.).  I agree with Elliott about the need for clear 
statements about the relationships among all the varieties of TeX--that 
confused me when I started.

Some people in this discussion have focused on help for those who are 
new to Xe(La)TeX, and others on more adequate documentation of the inner 
workings of XeTeX for advanced users and package developers.  I think 
the former is the more immediate need--not that the latter would not be 
good too!  Wilfred's comment about users not being in a hurry to change 
once they've learned how to do something is very apropros.  Maybe a 
volume 1 / volume 2 approach, with the advanced material in the latter?

I am very willing to help in this effort.  Some folks here may know that 
I have written a short tutorial for beginners on using OT/AAT features 
with XeTeX.  I'm making some updates right now and will post a notice 
here when the new version is available.  If any of this material could 
be adapted for user in a larger book that's fine with me.

If we can come up with something, I'd like to see both a downloadable 
PDF and a printed book.  I've just finished a book (typeset with memoir, 
which is an incredible resource but also represented a baptism by fire) 
that will be available through print on demand (POD) technology. 
Printing this way can be inexpensive; a 600 page book in the usual 
computer manual size can be done for around US$9.00.  I can provide more 
details about POD if people are interested.

We also need to be realistic.  Trying to replace the _LaTeX Companion_ 
would be tremendous undertaking and is perhaps not necessary.  I suggest 
a book that would:
a) give a good introduction to the world of TeX, but assuming that 
people will want Unicode, system fonts, OT/AAT, etc. (i.e., XeTeX)
b) lay out the essentials of Xe(La)TeX, as other have suggested; 
fontspec, polyglossia, etc.
c) provide guidance on how to accomplish common tasks, with reference to 
the various packages
d) provide advanced information for package writers etc [written later, 
perhaps as a seprate volume]

My thinking about c) is as follows: I didn't have the _LaTeX Companion_ 
until recently.  I often went to CTAN and looked for packages to do a 
particular task (use color, set tables, whatever) and sometimes found a 
lot of material I had to wade through to determine the best way to do 
what I needed.  I think it would be possible to provide a list of 
relevant packages, with some comments but without going into as much 
depth as the _LaTeX Companion_.  That should be enough to get people 
started.

David