[texhax] [NTG-context] Choosing TeX um ... stuff

[Hans Hagen]

On 17-11-2010 10:23, Peter Davis wrote:

>        1. by format (plain TeX, LaTeX, ConTeXt, others?)

there are others but they're sort of obsolete

>        2. by implementation (web2c, pdfTeX/pdfLaTeX, LuaTeX, others?)

see remarks by Mojca: engines (etex, pdftex, xetex, luatex), 
implementation (web2c, etc), pdflatex is just a format

>        3. by distribution (MikTeX, TeXLive, MacTeX, others?)
>
>        2. True or False: plain TeX and LaTeX(2e) are warhorses ... been
>     around for decades, quirks well known, lots of documentation, etc.

the latex kernel yes, styles and extensions is another matter

>     3. True or False: ConTeXt is newer, with a lot of built-in features, but
>     still changing quite a bit from build to build.

depends on what you use ... you're not a demanding power user in terms 
of typeserting and the basic mechanism are ok (mkii does not change at 
all, while mkiv is developed in sync with luatex)

Hans


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