JEAN-LUC DOUMONT
JL Consulting, Brussels, Belgium
JL@JLConsulting.be
Abstract:
While a world-renowned standard in many academic fields, Don Knuth's
much acclaimed typesetting system is almost unknown in most parts of
the real world, where many a document designer has achieved
professional success without ever hearing (let alone pronouncing) the
word ``TEX''. Outside academia, the lone TEXer faces not only
compatibility headaches, but also outright incomprehension from his
customers, colleagues, or competitors: why would anyone want to use
TEX to produce memos, two-color newsletters, full-color brochures,
overhead transparencies, and other itemss--in short, anything but
books that contain a lot of mathematics?
As a consultant in professional communication, I have been using TEX for all documents I have produced for my customers and for myself during the last ten years or so. Though it has turned out to be most successful, this approach is seen by most as a mere idiosyncrasy. And yet, the systematic use of my own TEX and POSTSCRIPT programming gives me three unequalled advantages over using off-the-shelf software: I travel light, I can go anywhere I please, and I guarantee I'll get there.
The presentation relates the experiences of a long-time lone TEXer in the real world. It explains choices, points out advantages and limitations, and draws lessons from the experience.