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<TeXmacs|1.0.2.3>
<style|tmdoc>
<\body>
<expand|tmdoc-title|Frequently asked questions>
<\question>
Can I use <TeXmacs> under Windows or MacOS?
</question>
<\answer>
Not yet, but we plan to port <TeXmacs> to these platforms. As a general
rule, <TeXmacs> should be relatively easy to port to Unix based systems
with X Window. It is therefore likely that a version for the Unix-based
MacOS-X would not be so hard to achieve. We are also waiting for feedback
from users about the compilation of <TeXmacs> under <name|Cygwin> on
Windows. Nevertheless, work is in progress to rewrite the graphical user
interface of <TeXmacs>, so that it becomes more portable. Your
<hlink|help|http://www.texmacs.org/Web/Contribute.html> might actually be
very useful here.
</answer>
<\question>
How can I see the <LaTeX> or <TeX> code corresponding to what I see on
the screen?
</question>
<\answer>
This question is due to a fundamental misunderstanding about <TeXmacs>.
Indeed, <TeXmacs> is not <em|based> on <TeX>/<LaTeX>, although it does
support (not yet perfect) <em|conversion> to and from <LaTeX>.
Furthermore, in theory at least, there is actually no need anymore to
look at something like the <TeX> source, since <TeXmacs> is guaranteed to
be fully WYSIWYG. Conversion to <LaTeX> may only be useful, when
transmitting an accepted paper to the publisher of a journal.
</answer>
<\question>
I just installed <TeXmacs>, but when I start typing or when I take a look
at the help, <TeXmacs> hangs for a minute. In the terminal where I
launched the program, I also see that my disk is being filled with files.
</question>
<\answer>
This behaviour is normal. <TeXmacs> calls <name|Metafont> in order to
generate fonts which are not yet present. The first time you launch
<TeXmacs>, many fonts may therefore have to be generated. In order to
avoid this, you may download some <hlink|pregenerated
fonts|http://www.texmacs.org/Download/Fonts.html>.
</answer>
<\question>
<em|Why don't you use a common graphical user interface like GTK for your
scrollbars, menus, and so on ?>
</question>
<\answer>
When I started to develop <TeXmacs> about four years ago, the common
graphical user interfaces were not as good as nowadays. Moreover, I
wanted the GUI to support some special features, like <TeX> fonts in the
menus. Nevertheless, now that graphical user interfaces did become much
better, I plan to switch to guile-gtk as soon as possible. Using
Guile-gtk in combination with <TeXmacs> has three main advantages:
<\enumerate>
<item>One has full access to the GTK widget set, which includes menus,
scrollable windows, file choosers, iconbars, etc.
<item>Guile-gtk provides you with a very flexible and customizable way
to use these widgets.
<item>The incorporation of Guile-gtk in <TeXmacs> should be natural,
since <TeXmacs> already supports the <name|Guile>/<name|Scheme>
extension language.
</enumerate>
</answer>
<\question>
A publisher sent me a giant <LaTeX> preamble I'm supposed to put in in
order to prepare a book for them. What is the best way of putting it in
and figuring if it will work?
</question>
<\answer>
I recommand to convert the preamble to <TeXmacs> and to put the result in
a <TeXmacs> style file. However, the result will probably be
disappointing, because conversion between <TeX>/<LaTeX> and <TeXmacs> is
not yet perfect and style files are particularly problematic. What you
can also do is write a <TeXmacs> style file by your own which supports
the major extra constructs you want to use from the editors style file.
When you convert your book to <LaTeX>, you next use the editors style.
Some layout will probably need to be redone at that stage, but this
should actually be the work of the editor... Please look in the <TeXmacs>
help for more information about convertions between <TeXmacs> and
<LaTeX>.
</answer>
<\question>
<em|To which formats can I convert <TeXmacs> documents?>
</question>
<\answer>
<TeXmacs> uses its own free, structured data format and Wysiwyg
postscript output is provided. It is possible to save <TeXmacs> documents
as scheme expressions without loss of information. Converters from and to
<LaTeX> are provided, which will be improved between versions 1.0 and
1.1. Converters from and to <name|Html>/<name|Mathml>/<name|Xml> will
also appear between versions 1.0 and 1.1 (a rudimentary converter from
<name|Html> already exists). <name|Pdf> output can be achieved by
converting <name|Postscript> documents. We would very much appreciate
your <hlink|help|http://www.texmacs.org/Web/Contribute.html> for writing
and improving converters for <TeXmacs> documents.
</answer>
<apply|tmdoc-copyright|1998--2002|Joris van der Hoeven>
<expand|tmdoc-license|Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or
modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
"GNU Free Documentation License".>
</body>
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<associate|language|english>
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