Knuth on TeX (was Re: LaTeX, Get Lost!!!)

[Robert A. G. Seely]

In article <3bvq9n$c...@rs18.hrz.th-darmstadt.de>,
Joachim Schrod <sch...@iti.informatik.th-darmstadt.de> wrote:
>In article <joshi.7...@hal.cs.uiuc.edu>,
> jo...@hal.cs.uiuc.edu (Anil Joshi) writes:
> [ cuts made ]
>> >This is of course a sore point. It is not permissible to enhance TeX
>> >and still call it TeX, by Knuth's fiat.
>>
>> I don't see any reason why Donald E. Knuth should prevent others from
>> extending the formatter.
>
>Please read the paragraph above again. Don Knuth will _not_ prevent
>others from extending the formatter. He _does_ prevent others to use
>the name TeX for such formatters.
>
>> Could you please point me to a reference?
>
> There was a letter published
>in TUGboat that explains his reasons (as far as I know, not available
>in electronic form).
>

Here it is: (posted here earlier this year.)

Article 26140 of comp.text.tex:
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: TeX Version Number (Knuth Article)
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 03:34:01 GMT

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#\tabskip=0pt\cr
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&The Future of \TeX\ and \MF&\cr
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\topskip=30pt \hsize=6.5truein \vsize=9truein

\noindent by Donald E. Knuth
\bigskip

\noindent My work on developing \TeX, \MF, and Computer Modern has come to
an end. I will make no further changes except to correct extremely
serious bugs.

I have put these systems into the public domain so that people
everywhere can use the ideas freely if they wish. I have also spent
thousands of hours trying to ensure that the systems produce
essentially identical results on all computers. I strongly believe
that an unchanging system has great value, even though it is axiomatic
that any complex system can be improved. Therefore I believe that it
is unwise to make further `improvements' to the systems called \TeX\ and
\MF. Let us regard these systems as fixed points, which should
give the same results 100~years from now that they produce today.

The current version number for \TeX\ is~3.1, and for \MF\ it is~2.7.
If corrections are necessary, the next versions of \TeX\ will be 3.14,
then 3.141, then 3.1415, \dots, converging to the ratio of a circle's
circumference to its diameter; for \MF\ the sequence will be 2.71,
2.718, \dots, converging to the base of natural logarithms. I intend to
be fully responsible for all changes to these systems for the rest of
my life. I will periodically study reports of apparent bugs, and I
will decide whether changes need to be made. Rewards will be paid to
the first finders of any true bugs, at my discretion, but I can no
longer afford to double the size of the reward each year. Whenever I
have created a new version, I will put it in the official master \TeX\
archive, which currently resides at Stanford University. At the time
of my death, it is my intention that the then-current versions of \TeX\
and \MF\ be forever left unchanged, except that the final version
numbers to be reported in the `banner' lines of the programs should
become
$$\hbox{\TeX, Version $\pi$}$$
and
$$\hbox{\MF, Version $e$}$$
respectively. From that moment on, all `bugs' will be permanent
`features.'

As stated on the copyright pages of Volumes~B, D, and~E, anybody can
make use of my programs in whatever way they wish, as long as they do
not use the names \TeX, \MF, or Computer Modern. In particular,
any person or group who wants to produce a program superior to mine is
free to do so. However, nobody is allowed to call a system \TeX\ or
\MF\ unless that system conforms 100\%\ to my own programs, as I
have specified in the manuals for the trip and trap tests. And nobody
is allowed to use the names of the Computer Modern fonts in Volume~E
for any fonts that do not produce identical {\tt.tfm} files. This
prohibition applies to all people or machines, whether appointed by
TUG or by any other organization. I do not intend to delegate the
responsibility for maintainance of \TeX, \MF, or Computer Modern
to anybody else, ever.

Of course I do not claim to have found the best solution to every
problem. I simply claim that it is a great advantage to have a fixed
point as a building block. Improved macro packages can be added on the
input side; improved device drivers can be added on the output side. I
welcome continued research that will lead to alternative systems that
can typeset documents better than \TeX\ is able to do. But the authors
of such systems must think of another name.

That is all I ask, after devoting a substantial portion of my life to
the creation of these systems and making them available to everybody
in the world. I sincerely hope that the members of TUG will help me to
enforce these wishes, by putting severe pressure on any person or
group who produces any incompatible system and calls it \TeX\ or
\MF\ or Computer Modern---no matter how slight the
incompatibility might seem.
\bye