> A macro package does not hide the controls any more than writing > macros yourself does. A macro package aggregates the requests > needed to perform typesetting functions for convenience, not > opacity.
Well said. I would like to add that I sometimes get the impression that people think that once they use a macro package, raw formatter requests should not be used anymore, as they somehow taint the "purity" of the manuscript. (This idea also appears to exist among some LaTeX users.) But this is of course nonsense. The purpose of macro packages is not to *limit* what you are *allowed* to do, but to *help* you in what you *want* to do. And we should keep in mind that one of the core uses of macros is not to save a few keystrokes in marking up the manuscript (although it helps), but to maintain *consistency* across the entire document.
