Path: nntp.gmd.de!xlink.net!zib-berlin.de!newsserv.zib-berlin.de!Schoepf
From: Scho...@sc.ZIB-Berlin.de (Rainer Schoepf)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: The new LaTeX (resend)
Date: 10 Jun 1994 18:00:57 GMT
Organization: Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik Berlin
Lines: 86
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <SCHOEPF.94Jun10200057@pumuckl.sc.ZIB-Berlin.de>
NNTP-Posting-Host: pumuckl.zib-berlin.de
The new LaTeX
Leslie Lamport and the LaTeX3 project team
June 1994
The LaTeX3 project team is pleased to announce the release of the new
standard version of LaTeX. It is upwardly compatible with existing
LaTeX documents, and contains new features including the long-awaited
graphics extensions.
Over the years many extensions of LaTeX have been developed. This is,
of course, a welcome development, since it shows that the LaTeX system
is in a healthy state. It has, however, had one unfortunate
consequence: there were several incompatible systems all claiming to
be LaTeX.
The new LaTeX puts an end to this unsatisfactory situation -- it gives
access to all extensions such as SLiTeX, AmSLaTeX, and PSLaTeX, based
on a single format. This will end the proliferation of mutually
incompatible dialects of LaTeX.
We have also introduced a small number of often-requested features
(such as more control over float placement) and an improved interface
for writers of document classes and packages.
The new LaTeX is described in a new edition of `LaTeX: A Document
Preparation System' by Leslie Lamport (to appear during 1994) and `The
LaTeX Companion' by Goossens, Mittelbach and Samarin, both published
by Addison-Wesley.
From now on there will be a new distribution of LaTeX twice a year, in
June and December.
The new LaTeX can be retrieved by anonymous ftp from the CTAN archives:
ftp.tex.ac.uk /tex-archive/macros/latex/base
ftp.shsu.edu /tex-archive/macros/latex/base
ftp.dante.de /tex-archive/macros/latex/base
The files in these directories require a somewhat long unpacking
process. For those who prefer to skip this step, we provide a second
distribution in unpacked format in the following CTAN directories:
ftp.tex.ac.uk /tex-archive/macros/latex/unpacked
ftp.shsu.edu /tex-archive/macros/latex/unpacked
ftp.dante.de /tex-archive/macros/latex/unpacked
Apologies and Thanks
--------------------
For obvious reasons, we have not been able to incorporate everyone's
suggestions for improvements or fixes to LaTeX.
We are nevertheless very grateful to everyone who has made suggestions
and/or reported bugs and other problems with old versions and with the
beta-test versions. We hope that all of your reports have been
answered by one of us: if not, please let us know. We have given them
all serious consideration and, in many cases where we have not been
able to act on them now, we have added them to the list of things that
need further attention in the future. Also, of course, many of them
could be developed into useful LaTeX packages, by you!
For the LaTeX3 Project
----------------------
Johannes Braams
David Carlisle
Michael Downes
Alan Jeffrey
Frank Mittelbach
Chris Rowley
Rainer Sch\"opf
--
Rainer Schoepf
Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum
fuer Informationstechnik Berlin
Heilbronner Strasse 10
D-10711 Berlin
Germany
<Scho...@sc.ZIB-Berlin.de> or <Scho...@sc.ZIB-Berlin.d400.de>
|