======================================================================== Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 01:54:47 -0400 Reply-To: "NTS-L Distribution list" From: laurent@MATH.TORONTO.EDU Subject: WHAT SUPPORT FOR NTS? WHAT SUPPORT FOR NTS? Rainer does keep coming back to the BIG I$$UE! > Coming back to the position paper by Richard Palais, I'd > like to comment what he said in his postscript about what > made the creation of TeX possible: that Don Knuth is a full > tenured professor at Stanford who not only had NSF grant > support for his project, but also he is a unique individual > who is able to accomplish such a task alone. > I do indeed believe that these is one of the critical issues > of the whole NTS project: Lots of resources are needed to > allow completion of the project. In my opinion it will not > be possible to accomplish this solely in the spare time of > some volunteers. I can only hope that there will be > sufficient support for it. Such is the complexity of TeX that it is not clear that it can be made to progress a great deal further in a cost-effective way. That is one of the many reasons I hesitate to back the idea of straight-away seeking major financing for NTS. Dick Palais's confidence gathering approach making first small steps seems just the right thing. On the other hand I have a feeling that the honours showered on Knuth since the completion of Computers and Typesetting can be taken as a sign that the world of science wholly approves of Knuth having done practical programming rather than (say) quietly going on to write volumes 4--7 of the Art of Computer Programming. For those of us who feel TeX-Metafont is the great music, it is satisfying to hear the mighty applause. Further, TeX is likely to be one of the major computer languages of science for the forseeable future, and perhaps the most widely used of all. Surely then proposals to undertake work along this line will get a fair hearing in the scientific world along side of more theoretical projects. In Knuth's programming, the solidity, performance, and documentation give an inspiring example and a tough standard. His style and standards fit perfectly into the traditional university model of science. Yes, that is little science, not the big science spawned by the Los Almos project and its many sequels. For me, that means that most actors are autonomous and individually responsible scientists whose research is in or related to the NTS project --- rather than (say) administrators or project employees with collective responsibility. I occasionally get the feeling that some NTS enthousiasts would like to see a NTS project make it BIG. I presently hope that little science would prove a welcoming and adequate context for NTS --- but explicit debate is just beginning. Laurent Siebenmann Mathematique, Bat. 425, Univ de Paris-Sud, 91405-Orsay, France ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 02:13:14 EDT Reply-To: "NTS-L Distribution list" From: "Mark A. Friedman" Subject: Out of Town I will be out of town today through Thursday (8/6) hopefully dominating noontime basketball at the UW SERF and getting in a few racquetball victories as well. ( :^)) I will be reading my mail while in Wisconsin periodically. -- Mark Professor Mark A. Friedman mark.friedman@mail.trincoll.edu Engineering and Computer Science (or friedman@starbase.trincoll.edu) Trinity College Phone: (203) 297-2519 Hartford, Connecticut 06106 Fax: (203) 297-2569 ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 4 Aug 92 23:12:57 -0700 Reply-To: "NTS-L Distribution list" From: "Paul Barton-Davis" Subject: There's no-one here right now ... I'm on vacation until August 21st. In an emergency, you might reach me at 011-44-225-338076, which is my parent's number in Bath, UK. Otherwise, enjoy the weather. ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 10:27:17 EDT Reply-To: "NTS-L Distribution list" From: Michael Barr Subject: From Laurent Siebenmann Larry Siebenmann has asked me to forward this to NTS-L because his, ``current communications are currently verrry shaky''. Sorry if it gets posted twice. Michael Barr WHAT SUPPORT FOR NTS? Rainer does keep coming back to the BIG I$$UE! > Coming back to the position paper by Richard Palais, I'd > like to comment what he said in his postscript about what > made the creation of TeX possible: that Don Knuth is a full > tenured professor at Stanford who not only had NSF grant > support for his project, but also he is a unique individual > who is able to accomplish such a task alone. > I do indeed believe that these is one of the critical issues > of the whole NTS project: Lots of resources are needed to > allow completion of the project. In my opinion it will not > be possible to accomplish this solely in the spare time of > some volunteers. I can only hope that there will be > sufficient support for it. Such is the complexity of TeX that it is not clear that it can be made to progress a great deal further in a cost-effective way. That is one of the many reasons I hesitate to back the idea of straight-away seeking major financing for NTS. Dick Palais's confidence gathering approach making first small steps seems just the right thing. On the other hand I have a feeling that the honours showered on Knuth since the completion of Computers and Typesetting can be taken as a sign that the world of science wholly approves of Knuth having done practical programming rather than (say) quietly going on to write volumes 4--7 of the Art of Computer Programming. For those of us who feel TeX-Metafont is the great music, it is satisfying to hear the mighty applause. Further, TeX is likely to be one of the major computer languages of science for the forseeable future, and perhaps the most widely used of all. Surely then proposals to undertake work along this line will get a fair hearing in the scientific world along side of more theoretical projects. In Knuth's programming, the solidity, performance, and documentation give an inspiring example and a tough standard. His style and standards fit perfectly into the traditional university model of science. Yes, that is little science, not the big science spawned by the Los Almos project and its many sequels. For me, that means that most actors are autonomous and individually responsible scientists whose research is in or related to the NTS project --- rather than (say) administrators or project employees with collective responsibility. I occasionally get the feeling that some NTS enthousiasts would like to see a NTS project make it BIG. I presently hope that little science would prove a welcoming and adequate context for NTS --- but explicit debate is just beginning. Laurent Siebenmann Mathematique, Bat. 425, Univ de Paris-Sud, 91405-Orsay, France