John¹ wrote: > Many years ago, when type used to be set by hand, I was one of those who > did the typesetting. I am now looking at the methodology of using either > Groff or LaTex to produce print ready text. Can anyone briefly tell me if > Groff does the same job as LaTex? > > Obviously there will be a bias in asking this group but does one have an > advantage over the other?
Each have their advantages. Both do a better job of typesetting than word processors or page layout programs, although I understand InDesign is pretty close. Groff cedes some typesetting precision to TeX in favor of raw speed, but these days computers are wicked-fast and most people think typesetting is done with MS Word, so that's a wash. I prefer groff over TeX partly because I'd rather spend more time typing text than markup. But what really kills *TeX for me is that it starts from its own assumptions of what my page layout is supposed to look like, and that would be fine if I were writing academic papers instead of technical documentation. It's just too much of a hassle trying to force *TeX to do it my way, when I already know groff and it's willing to accommodate me. -- Larry
