mailing-list for TeXmacs Users

[Henri Lesourd <address@hidden>]

> > learning in a University environment. Could you sugest your advisor to
> > use TeXmacs instead (now is available for Windows also).?
> >    
It is certainly a good idea to suggest it. It doesn't work all the time, 
but it is definitely
possible to convince people to use TeXmacs. When you show them TeXmacs 
first,
they can decide to use it. If it doesn't happen, go and come back later 
(possibly with
some new users, seeing other people changing their minds is quite 
convincing). The
key for success in this area is : speak about it, come back, and 
**repeat** : very often,
people don't really listen to you the first time : they need time to 
assimilate and memorize
what you say. To convince people is having a (possibly long) 
conversation with them.

> Have you ever had to deal with Professors set in their ways ?
>  
Yes. But you cannot say that professors are all 'set in their way'. They 
can change their
minds, especially if you show them an easier and more interesting 
alternative.

> Why would anyone want to use texmacs, excellently designed as it is, when 
> almost every journal/conference that I am aware of uses LaTeX / Word (a few 
> wordperfect friendly organizations are still out there, but they are a dying 
> breed).
Writing academic papers is not **at all** the only possible uses of 
TeXmacs (fortunately !).

> I do not wish to restart an argument that was settled in one way a long time 
> ago, but until .tm format becomes widely accepted in major journals/ at major 
> conferences, texmacs, for all its simplicity and elegance, will not be a tool 
> of choice for anyone.
>  
What you say doesn't appropriately reflects reality. As I said above, 
writing papers for journals is
not at all the only possible use of TeXmacs.

> This is not a flame, just a recognition of hard reality. I use texmacs for 
> writing short group reports that are meant for internal circulation, but when 
> it is time to submit a paper or do any other stuff that involves co-authors, 
> it is back to LaTeX / Word again.
>  
Yes, but as far as convincing journals to accept the TeXmacs format is 
concerned, you can :

a) Go and see the people in these journals, and convince them. It is 
difficult to succeed, because
    in itself, the fact that TeXmacs is a better tool for writing 
papers is not a real incentive for
    them : journals are interested in --publishing-- papers, that is 
not the same ;

b) Go and convince the --users-- to use TeXmacs. This is easier, because 
from the point of view
    of the users, using a better tool --is-- an incentive. And at some 
point in the future, the fact that
    lots of users use a given tool unavoidably becomes a strong 
incentive for journals.

As such, from a very academia-centric point of view, you are right when 
you say that the journals
play an important role. But they are not the only possible actors ; thus 
the way you present the situation
is misleading, all the more because it tends to divert people from 
trying to widen the user base, which is
the most effective approach for success. Using a software is like 
standards ; even if it seems to be so, it
is not something that can ultimately be decided by a small minority of 
people.