[pdftex] Various Replies to (Strategies to embed existing pdf documents into tex source...)

[James Quirk]

Dear Craig,

> > ------------------------------
> > From: Reinhard Kotucha <reinhard.kotucha at web.de>
> > Maybe scrollbars are not supported, but something similar:
> >
> > Go to http://www.amrita-ebook.org/doc and download the file
> > TOA-drink-me.pdf (6.87 MBytes).  It's amazing to see what PDF
> 
> This is an amazing document and the view showing the source code 50
> lines at a time is exactly what I want.  I think the learning curve
> for amrita will be too steep to tackle if I need a document in the next
> few days.  Does anyone know of a simpler working example of this?

Pardon this e-mail, but I noticed that you've downloaded a copy
of AMRITA, from an OSX machine, and I thought I should warn you 
that the installation kit as shipped does not run under OSX.
Currently I only have access to Linux machines and so that is
all I'm able to support. That said, AMRITA has run under OSX
in the past and so I know that once I locate a machine the
required modifications are minor and will be of order one day's work. 
Therefore, if you like, I could notify you when an OSX version 
reappears?


Regarding AMRITA's learning curve, it is not an especially
difficult system to pick up, but its programming approach 
is sufficiently different from the norm that it does require 
a change in thinking. The system was conceived as a means of 
generating self-substantiating, computational documents.
The idea being that one could visit a portal such as
scholar.google.com, search for a paper e.g.

    riemann-solver aficionado

download it, and run the work directly. As it stands,
AMRITA is a prototype that shows proof of concept,
but it would require a professional body to get behind
the approach to bring its ideas to scientific fruition.
However, as you can imagine, I have met with some resistance
convincing my colleagues that it would be a good thing
to go down a route where their work is open to scrutiny.

Lastly, if you can forgive me for being nosy, I looked you up on 
scholar.google.com and I see that you have worked with Norman Fleck. 
It just so happens that Norman was my materials science tutor, when 
I was an undergraduate at Pembroke College, Cambridge, back in 1981.
Although after all these years, I very much doubt he would
recollect me. 

Sincerely,

James Quirk