[OS X TeX] Re: praise --- and three humble fine-tuning suggestions

[Bruno Voisin]

Joachim Kock wrote:

> Paulo:
> 
>> No, no, no: when I open a .tex file, I want to open a .tex file, period.
>> I don't want TeXshop to process it. If I want to open a pdf file, I open
>> a pdf file. If I want to process a tex file, I press the LaTeX button in
>> TeXshop. Please, no action behind my back. Right now, I am working on a
>> 1000 page book. I don't want TeXshop to process it each time I open the
>> main .tex file.
> 
> 
> If you read my post again, notice that I am talking strictly about the
> situation where TeXShop is configured for external editor.  This means that
> the source is not going to be shown in TeXShop at all --- the source is
> typically already open in your favourite editor.  What we want is really to
> have it tex'ed...

I rather agree with Paulo, softwares which take initiatives may be 
appealing at first look, or when you only use them once in a while, but 
tend to be a pain for everyday use.

That's one of the reasons I can't stand Word: it's always willing to 
take initiatives, like selecting a whole word and the space after it 
while I just want to select a few letters, or transforming into a list a 
paragraph that starts with an hyphen and format this list in some 
predefined way, etc. Most of the time I spend using Word (I sometimes 
have to) is spent finding which preference controls this or that 
initiative, and disactivating it.

Generally when I use a software I expect it to do exactly what I 
explicitly ask it to do, no more, no less. (Assuming that I ask well, 
which is another story.)

Sorry if that sounds aggressive, the original suggestion just struck a 
nerve in me.

Bruno Voisin


-----------------------------------------------------------------
To UNSUBSCRIBE, send email to <info at email.esm.psu.edu> with
"unsubscribe macosx-tex" (no quotes) in the body.
For additional HELP, send email to <info at email.esm.psu.edu> with
"help" (no quotes) in the body.
-----------------------------------------------------------------