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## About VTeX - Interview with Walter Schmidt

By Lothar Frommhold © December 2003

VTeX/Free is a TeX (pronounced "tek"-ed.) distribution, which is built around the VTeX program. VTeX is an implementation of the TeX typesetting engine, to generate PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format) or PostScript output immediately from the TeX source file. Best of all, its free for OS/2 and eCS. The distribution and the documentation are maintained by Walter Schmidt, who was interviewed for this article by Lothar Frommhold.

Question:
  VTeX is based on Donald Knuth's TeX. Why is TeX so powerful that we consider it the leading, pioneering, electronic typesetting system for scientific and technical writing since its inception in the early eighties?
Walter Schmidt's answer:
  Because the program was made to fulfill perfectly the task of typesetting rather than to look attractive to laymen at first sight, and because Knuth is one of the leading computer scientists, a genius.

Question:
  Why "typesetting" - which sounds like TeX is useful to a very limited group of craftsmen? Are word processing, desktop publishing (DTP), or the writing needs of small and big users not sufficiently addressed?
Answer:
  Both LaTeX and "classical" desktop publishing programs do actually perform "typesetting". We just don't use the term "DTP" for LaTeX, because LaTeX constitutes a different approach than the well-known GUI-driven (Graphical User Interface-ed.) systems , and because it is actually restricted to typesetting alone, i.e., a separate editor program is required additionally. (Interviewer's note: The EPM editor of OS/2 is exceptionally well suited for the purpose, especially if the VTeX frontend, which is very easy to install, is used.)

Question:
  TeX is the hard-core basis of the many advanced LaTeX derivatives which exist today for virtually all platforms, including emTeX for OS/2 and, more recently, VTeX/2? Why are there so many LaTeX varieties?
Answer:
  There is only one platform-independent set of the LaTeX macros, but there are many ports of the basic TeX program to different computers and operating systems. (TeX was initially written in a platform-independent way.) All these implementations generate absolutely identical device-independent (DVI) output; otherwise they must not carry the name TeX. Technological progress made a number of enhancements desirable and possible, in particular PDF generation directly from the TeX source, rather than via the DVI intermediate format. As a result, pdfTeX and VTeX came into existence. Unfortunately the development of TeX has split.

Question:
  In other words: LaTeX is a huge set of macros that facilitate the use of TeX, in complete generality and independent of platforms. Will any future extensions of LaTeX be immediately useful on all platforms?
Answer:
  It is possible that the future LaTeX 3 will need certain facilities, such as a Perl interpreter, beside the bare TeX program. I hope that all required tools will be available on OS/2, too. But that's still very much theory: LaTeX 3 does not yet exist!

Question:
  Who is actually using VTeX - and why?
Answer:
  Frankly said: I don't know the exact number of users. VTeX/2 is free, and no registration is required. Most of the people who participate in our mail list are scientists or students; this does in no way differ from what I experience on other TeX-related lists and news groups. As to the second part of the question: Why? Apparently, because there is no alternative on OS/2, now that emTeX is practically dead.

Question:
  I have heard complaints that TeX and virtually all of the LaTeX varieties do not have graphical user interfaces. Why is this so? Is VTeX without a GUI a viable program?
Answer:
  Indeed, TeX is a "language" for typesetting. If you prefer a GUI instead, use a different tool! Just take a look at LyX, which tries to provide a "TeX GUI": To me this seems like a wedding of the drawbacks of TeX and WORD! Besides, isn't it true that, as far as the control of the TeX compiler and the related programs is concerned, the EPM TeX frontend provides virtually all the conveniences offered by a GUI?

Question:
  VTeX produces output in the Postscript and PDF file formats. How does one preview the output?
Answer:
  You need to use Acrobat Reader (for PDF) or Ghostscript/GSView (for both PDF and PostScript). The fact that there is no up-to-date Acrobat Reader for native OS/2 constitutes a bit of a problem, but fortunately there are GhostScript and GSView. Without these, we would have to give up VTeX/2.

Question:
  How about the Odin-based, but fully self-consistent Acrobat Reader, v.4.05, issued recently by Innotek that is available free for download?
Answer:
  I have to admit that I have not yet installed it. It should constitute a major improvement over the Acrobat Reader, v.3, but version 4.05 is also far from being up-to-date... And I would not consider Odin as "native" OS/2.

Question:
  What about VTeX for other file formats, such as HTML?
Answer:
  This is available with the VTeX distribution for Windows, and there is no intention to port it to OS/2. (Interviewer's note: Some third-party LaTeX software is available that may be sufficient for some such tasks. For example, this Interview was written in VTeX and the html file you are reading was directly produced from the VTeX file using TtH, the TeX to HTML conversion package by Ian Hutchinson. TtH is available for free for noncommercial use.``)

Question:
  Since TeX and LaTeX are available for virtually every platform, does this really mean that VTeX/2 produced documents and their TeX sources are truly portable to any computer?
Answer:
  Yes - unless the document makes use of any features that are not provided by other TeX systems. This affects, in particular, the inclusion of images in certain bitmap formats and the access to certain PDF- and PostScript-specific facilities. However, other TeX implementations such as teTeX exhibit such differences between various backends (classical TeX with dvips vs. pdfTeX), too.

Question:
  Can VTeX handle things such as the inclusion of figures (and which formats?), tables, complex mathematical and other (e.g., chemical and engineering-type) symbolic expressions, color, special fonts (e.g., large type, boldface, foreign fonts, etc.), etc.? Is there something VTeX cannot - or not yet - do?
Answer:
  Compared to other TeX systems, VTeX has no particular restrictions. Everything that's mentioned in your question is basically possible. As to the inclusion of figures that were created by third-party programs, VTeX supports extended postscript (EPS), PDF and all important bitmap formats.

Questions:
  Are all the above features available in the VTeX package, or do I need additional software - and, if so, can one easily get that and at what cost?
Answer:
  LaTeX is an extensible system and CTAN (the TeX archive network) provides hundreds of additional macro packages for free. However, only a limited selection of these is shipped with VTeX/2. Further packages can be downloaded and installed easily, since VTeX complies with the standardized "TeX directory structure" (TDS). There are many additional programs to complement LaTeX, for instance pre- and postprocessors, drawing programs etc. Whether or not you actually need these depends on your particular application. The free VTeX distribution comprises only the two most important programs, which are practically regarded as "required," i.e., the MakeIndex and BibTeX programs. Further free software is available from CTAN, but not everything has been ported to OS/2, unfortunately. (Interviewer's note: MakeIndex generates automatically an index of long papers and book manuscripts, and BibTeX processes data bases of reference sources; both extremely useful in scientific-technical writing.)

Question:
  Will VTeX/2 be available with eCS?
Answer:
  Possibly, yes. There are plans to ship the latest VTeX/2 version with a future eCS distribution.

Question:
  Will VTeX be free for OS/2 in the future?
Answer:
  We do not intend to change VTeX/2 into a commercial product.

Question:
  What are the commercial VTeX packages?
Answer:
  There is VTeX for Windows. It includes an editor and many extra tools, and it can create HTML and SVG, along with PostScript and PDF, and there is a GUI to control all these programs. See MicroPress for more information. MicroPress is also supplying fonts, which are particularly made for use with TeX (not just VTeX!). I recommend a visit to MicroPress Fonts.

Question:
  Does anyone actively maintain VTeX and VTeX/2 (for OS/2-eCS)?
Answer:
  The commercial VTeX for Windows is entirely in the responsibility of MicroPress Inc., while the work on VTeX for OS/2 and Linux and is shared: Michael Vulis (MicroPress Inc.) is the maintainer of the OS/2 and Linux ports of the bare VTeX program, while I am responsible for putting together the final distribution, i.e., adding the LaTeX macros, configuration files, documentation, installation program etc., and testing. I am considerably assisted by Herbert Voss, who takes care of the Linux-specific part of the distribution. (Thank you, Herbert!)

Question:
  Earlier this year I set up VTeX on my eCS workstation, I was delighted with the elegant installation program you wrote. Installation of VTeX was a snap and, before I knew it, I found myself using LaTeX - or really VTeX - again on my new workstation. I think I spent less than a minute on that installation - no glitches, no head-scratching, no nagging doubts, but excellent, concise instructions - it was what such an installation should be: a marvelous job! Can you tell us what the future will hold? Where is LaTeX going? And VTeX?
Answer:
  There is a long-term project called LaTeX 3, which will - hopefully - fix the remaining basic flaws and drawbacks of the current LaTeX2e, see the LaTeX project. As to VTeX/Free, there are currently no plans for any basic changes. Of course, the distribution will adopt all future changes to the LaTeX macros and the additional packages. I am about to basically improve the documentation; I hope that I can provide a full-blown "VTeX/Free tutorial" in the near future.

Question:
  How does one download VTeX?
Answer:
  See the MicroPress OS/2 page. Or, if you don't need many words, visit CTAN's OS/2 page.

Question:
  When I started to use LaTeX some fifteen years ago, I was used to some other word-processing software which did not quite fit the bill. I was amazed how easy it was to start using LaTeX: I read the first 20 or 30 pages of Leslie Lamport's book and started writing a few letters and an article for a professional journal in my field - and never turned back. By now I have studied many parts of that book, and of other books on LaTeX, as my needs grew; summarizing my experience I would say it was easy to learn LaTeX and I never saw a need for using any other software for my writing - both professional and personal. Do you have any advice for beginners how to get started?
Answer:
  (1) Read the LaTeX book: LaTeX - A Document Preparation System by Leslie Lamport
  (2) Read the installation instructions and the "LaTeX Local Guide for VTeX/Free," which come with the VTeX/2 distribution. The VTeX-specific aspects are covered there.
  (3) Take a look at a TeX frequently asked questions (FAQ) in your language
  (4) Participate in the VTeX/Free mail list
  (5) Participate also in a general TeX-related mail list or newsgroup such as comp.text.tex; these are excellent sources of support.

Question:
  What other important literature on VTeX exist?
Answer:
  Just take a look at the English TeX FAQ; it has a section on TeX-related literature.

Thank you, Walter, for kindly agreeing to give this interview and for bearing with me through the many questions raised! We wish you the best for your admirable efforts on behalf of the OS/2 - eCS community!
Lothar Frommhold

References: Other links referenced: VTeX/Free - http://www.micropress-inc.com/os2/ The CTAN systems/vtex/os2/ directory - http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/vtex/os2/ The LaTeX project - http://www.latex-project.org VTeX/Free mail list - http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-vtex The English TeX FAQ - http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq TtH - http://hutchinson.belmont.ma.us/tth/

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