[OS X TeX] Web hosting etc

[Alain Schremmer]

1) Since I got started on LaTeX and, shortly thereafter, on this  
list, I learned two or three things.

--This list is terrible as it is like having a car: I now have a hard  
time reaching to my Companion 2ed or doing a google search or, to put  
it bluntly, scratching my head and LaTeX thinking for myself since it  
is so much easier just to ask the list. (On the other hand, this  
gives me a profound understanding of the prospective readers of the  
magnum opus who also are all too happy relying on the "experts". And  
of course, ironically, the point of the magnum opus is  precisely  
trying to wean them away from that.)

--This list is awesome and, without it, I would have long given up on  
LaTeX and, presumably, on the magnum opus. As I once indicated,  
thanks to a number of people on this list, I have now a framework  
which allows me to spend most of my time on writing and experimenting  
with the students rather than trying to figure out things or having  
to do them the very, very long way. (I haven't forgotten Wierda's  
once-upon-a-time suggestion that I write a piece for the PracTeX  
journal and I in fact started one but got rapidly bogged down. But I  
am still thinking about it as I think that this framework being not  
just about book writing but really about creating a course of study,  
complete with homework, reviews, exams, multiple choice or not, etc  
could serve others. And I have kept a list of all those who  
constructed the framework.)

--Like all potent medicines, though, this list is really to be used  
sparingly. Indeed, the few threads I started in the not too distant  
past, which I thought might not draw any response, did in fact grow  
beyond the pale. And I sure didn't expect the response to this one  
which I thought to be completely off topic. Plus, I did get a number  
of off-list offers to help. Thanks to all.

2) I owe an apology for having posted that late in the week knowing  
full well that I would be incommunicado during the weekend which  
would complicate the normal discussion process. Again, I didn't  
expect such a response at all. But then I should have known.

3a) As alluded to above, the magnum opus is so-called because it is  
huge—or will be.  The file count Retrospect gives me these days  
oscillates  between 13000 and 14000 files. Of course, many are aux  
files but many are graphics files (in an Intaglio editable version  
and in a printable pdf version) and very many are "question files"  
for the review-exam makers.

3b) The magnum opus is intended to be uploaded and made available  
under a GNU Free Documentation License so I too am free in that I  
don't have to worry about the whims of a publisher. While this  
version of the magnum opus will certainly not be the definitive one,  
I doubt that, right now, given Hestenes' dictum, many people will  
want to collaborate. So, something like source forge is, at best,  
something for the future.

3c) I will now respond to some of the posts, inasmuch as they had a  
direct bearing on my situation and inasmuch as I will need further  
elucidation. I apologize to those whose post I will not respond to.  
In any case, what I am going to do is to summarize my new understanding.

i. I was, mostly still am, totally ignorant of what will be involved  
in making the magnum opus available on the web. I think that,  
essentially I have the choice between asking the hospitality of an  
existing site and dedicating a computer as a server and renting a  
url. (Apples seems to make it possible by way of the Apache web  
server included in OS X. But I am afraid that this would involve the  
Terminal.)

ii. I was not aware that all websites are searchable by Google but  
that it is Google that chooses, understandably, not to search, for  
instance, the web sites offered by Verizon along with the DSL  
connection. (Actually, though, I seem to remember something on the  
Verizn site to the effect that their sites were not searchable. In  
any case, though, I am not about to deal with Verizon more than i  
have to but I am still curious to know if the sites offered by .mac  
are actually Google-searched.)

iii. I had not realized that, no matter what, the uploading itself  
would be a problem as I thought that it would just take making a few  
zip files and, somehow, upload. I am going to study Dyballa's post  
and the ensuing responses … and ask questions. But it is not so much,  
as Dyballa kindly says, that I am "not used that much to the command  
line", rather, it is that I am totally and probably terminally  
Terminal-impaired. (On the other hand, I have this friend who is a  
linux expert …) I will look up all the sites suggested, such as  
Fetch, Interarchy, Cyberduck, Filezilla, Transmit, etc. In other  
words, this time, I am going to try to do my homework.

iv. The first part of the magnum opus to be uploaded will be the  
standalone version of the algebra part of "From Arithmetic To  
Differential Calculus" (Yes, that's the magnum opus' title.) That  
will be finished, text, homework,review exams and all, within the  
next few weeks. I will then make zip files for the various components  
and see what sizes I get.

Well, that's it for the moment and, again,
Very, very grateful regards to all
--schremmer


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