From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: crashedandburnt1@hotmail.com (Crashedandburnt) Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Program structure of Pstricks, what is its basic structure? Date: 23 Feb 2004 16:04:55 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <42414174.0402231604.5a4c2a1a@posting.google.com> References: <42414174.0402221953.24c938a6@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: deer.gmane.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1077582179 17224 80.91.224.253 (24 Feb 2004 00:22:59 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 00:22:59 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Feb 24 01:22:49 2004 Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by deer.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1AvQLZ-0005mD-00 for ; Tue, 24 Feb 2004 01:22:49 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.30) id 1AvQG4-00018t-Uh for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 23 Feb 2004 19:17:08 -0500 Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!ra.nrl.navy.mil!chiapp19.algx.com!allegiance!news-out.visi.com!petbe.visi.com!news.octanews.net!newsfeed2.dallas1.level3.net!news.level3.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: comp.text.tex,comp.lang.postscript,gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 95 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 206.149.32.81 Original-X-Trace: posting.google.com 1077581095 17254 127.0.0.1 (24 Feb 2004 00:04:55 GMT) Original-X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 00:04:55 +0000 (UTC) Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu comp.text.tex:271437 comp.lang.postscript:76668 gnu.emacs.help:121158 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:17109 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help:17109 Timothy Van Zandt Prof of Economics, INSEAD writes: > Sorry, but that is malicious slander, and so asinine I'm not sure I > should lower myself to a response. pstricks has quite extensive > documentation besides the user's guide. The file pstricks.doc documents > the main source code and various other extensions have some > documentation. I don't have anything I've never released. First, the preamble: 1;; The civilized mode of discussion is without name calling and without ego. Unfortunately, the Achilles Heel of the academia is ego. Often grad students fired for ego. Often junior faculty losing tenure for ego. The more "prestigeous" the institution, princeton, harvard, the more the ego disease. Often forgetting that academia is financed on donations and professorship is a privilege, not a God given right and to be used as a launchpad for business. Supporting opinions on some of the points following p147 in http://www.dreamsongs.com/NewFiles/PatternsOfSoftware.pdf 2;; Actions speak louder than words. This is a public forum. We have arguments and counterarguments, hopefully in a civilized manner. Hopefully, agreements too. 3;; I would gladly apologize if you have satisfactory documentation. Neither I can prove my phone conversation, nor you can deny it. We have no proof like Ms Tripp had on Monica affair. I would apologize gladly to certify that this is good package with documentation that would allow others to go around customizing for their own use or learning from its source. Although a comment per line of code is not too much, I do not hold your package to this standard. 4;; It is fine to make reasonable money. The issue is to have the manifest, clear, loud and open. Not fine print hidden recursively. Bait and switch should not be done. If money is the objective it should be stated. 5;; This preamble is not an accusation or directed to any person and do not get angry. I hope replies have not been initiated before this point. 6;; I would gladly write the doc if the author provides me with the info. I have contributed money to FSF at their booth when I saw their documentation effort. I help anonymously. We all know that there are numerous unsung heros of free software movement. Certainly, it is impossible to refer to them individually and it is easiest to give credit to them collectively by naming Stallman. But to ask me to write the doc by figuring it out is plain mischief. End preamble. I recall, you said in the conversation that you spent "just too much time" on it. The feeling I got was that it was too much time to be warranted. While I was not sure of your name spelling, I can see from your post that I recalled it correctly. I see that you also have a user guide of 76 or so pages or page pairs. Is it not a good idea to put a 5 to 10 page document to explain how the package works and tie everything together? I will try to find the pstricks.doc file. From the extension name it may be MS word file (I do not use MS word) or just a .doc extension. But if the former, I can perhaps apply strings command to get the ascii or find some converter. But the point is that when one spends so much time on writing a package, refining it and then writing about 76 page pairs of user manual, it is not much effort to document the workings of the package for others to learn and benefit from, since it was put in the public domain. In the coming days, the ability of people to explain the subject of this thread will itself testify how well it is documented.