[tex-eplain] removing diagram and bibtex code

[Karl Berry]

    Perhaps what strikes me is the dependence of  the plain macro file on
    code for BibTeX

Like I said, I put the common definitions into btxmac precisely so
*btxmac* could be independently read.  It was never a goal to have
Eplain without bibtex support.

    One of the reasons why I'm asking is that I found that the eplain used
    to typeset TeX for the Impatient is tiny in comparison with the actual

Of course.  I and a host of others kept developing eplain after the book
was done.  Up to the present day, as you have seen.

    I thought it would be nice to be able to use eplain
    macros without the bibtex et al (miniltx, names.sty, etc.) code,

Those big things aren't loaded unless you ask for them with
\beginpackages (presumably because you want to use them).
    
    perhaps by calling \input xeplain (excised eplain). 

Whatever any such name may be, it shouldn't be xeplain.  That's the name
I used (more less at random) for the commented source file, as Dan
mentioned.

    could we try to get only the eplain
    macros in xeplain.tex, standalone

Sorry, but I still fail to see any reason to do so.  If you want to do
it, go right ahead.  There's nothing technically difficult about doing
so, as far as I can see.

Whatever tiny amount of Eplain time I can scrape up I need to spend on
other things, like looking at the double-column bug that never seems to
really get fixed ... and I have pending fixes from Dan that need to get
pushed out.  Etc., etc.  (If someone else wants to jump in and work on
such development stuff, let me know.  Oleg clearly doesn't have time any
more, unfortunately.)

All the best,
k