Re: Malyshev's work

["Berthold K.P. Horn" <bkph@ai.mit.edu>]

Laurent says:

   technology like science is pyramidal. Even Berthold will have to
   concede that the availability of  dvips  code and documentation
   has had a very positive influence: I would hope that METAFOG

Yes, DVIPS is wonderful and has helped propel the TeX world into the
PostScript era.  Few remember that there was enormous resistance,
mostly because PS was invented by Adobe and Adobe is a commercial 
organization.  You don't believe me?  I am sure you also won't believe 
me 5-10 years down the row when I tell you that once there was 
enormous resistance to Acrobat PDF in the TeX world :=)

   (commercial, under devellopment, for PC?) would profit, much as
   Berthold's DVIPSONE has profited from dvips. Other platforms like

But to set the record straight: I have never read DVIPS code or
bothered to learn about its command line switches.  I must admit to
fiddling with Nelson Beebe's DVIALW in the old days, trying to change
it to make it do what I wanted - I can't deny learning something from
that.  (I am forced to use DVIPS here at MIT AI on Unix, but that is
another story).  On the other hand, it is gratifying in a way to see
features of DVIPSONE such as `partial font downloading' make it into
other DVI drivers :=)

   unix & Mac need a jumpstart on this conversion problem.

   Let us encourage Basil to fully publish his tools and also his
   type 1 fonts in the dramatically altered situation the free
   release of CM/PS & AMS/PS has created.  I will of course be
   disapointed if he decides not to do so.  But even the certain
   knowlege that he has definitively left the subject behind him
   would clear away barriers to progress.

		    Cheers	  Larry Siebenmann

Berthold Horn