Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site utastro.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!ut-sally!utastro!nather From: nather@utastro.UUCP (Ed Nather) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: 4.2BSD ms macros screwed up Message-ID: <130@utastro.UUCP> Date: Sat, 18-Feb-84 12:52:47 EST Article-I.D.: utastro.130 Posted: Sat Feb 18 12:52:47 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 19-Feb-84 05:43:20 EST Organization: UTexas Astronomy Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 55 {} The "new, improved" nroff -ms macro package distributed with the 4.2BSD release of Unix is so screwed up it can't even format the document that describes the "improvements." Further, the claim that all the old macros still work as before is wrong; simple footnotes don't work at all. Here are excerpts from the blue-sky document, as formatted by the nroff formatter and -ms macros included in the distribution: [editorial comments in brackets are added sarcasm] ====================================================================== The old version of -ms is still available as -mos. There are a few extensions to previous -ms macros, and a number of new macros, but all the documented -ms macros still work exactly as they did before, and have the same names as before. Output produced with -ms should look like output produced with -mos. [True: -mos also fails on simple footnotes. -mos is *not* 4.1bsd -ms.] If you use \** to indi- cate numbered footnotes, then the .FS macro will automatically include the footnote number at the bottom of the page. This footnote, for example, was produced as follows:[1] This footnote, for example, was produced as follows:\** .FS ... .FE If you are using \** to number footnotes, but want a particular _________________________ [oops - no footnote] February 18, 1984 ========================================================================== There are other problems as well -- the definitions for the footnote macros (in use in older documents), .FE and .FS no longer work. nroff swallows the footnote but never gives it back. Two macros called .FJ and .FK replace the old .FE and .FS AFTER THE THESIS COVER PAGE IS PRINTED according to the comments, and I suspect it works if you are formatting a Berkeley thesis in Computer Science (sic) but not otherwise. We switched from 4.1bsd to 4.2bsd to improve things. So far the "improvements" are so costly we have experienced a net loss. (dbx talks a good game but fails miserably on both C and Fortran programs. Our benchmarks all run slower under the new, faster file system than they did before. But not to worry: the new file system wastes more disk space to make up for it.) Ultrix, anyone? -- Ed Nather ihnp4!{ut-sally,kpno}!utastro!nather Astronomy Dept., U. of Texas, Austin