Introduction to TeX and its world -- 3/12/05 draft -- dcw

Title slide
    includes a place for speakers name and contact info
    question:  who in audience has used, has heard about, or has not
               heard about TeX (so presentation can be pitched right)
    ground rule: interrupt to get clarification, but I may ask that
               you wait until we get to that in the natural progression
               of the presentation; don't interrupt for philosophical
               disputes -- tell me how wrong I am at the end

What TeX et al. are, functionally (1 slide)
    the following all apply, more or less:
        word processor
        document preparation system
        desktop publishing system
        typesetting system
    initial heritage was for creating good looking math books;
        mention Knuth and his innovations in computer typesetting

A few examples of outputs of different sorts of documents (several slides)

From a long tradition (1 slide)
    command based (not WYSIWYG)  [note exceptions:  Scientific Word, MicroImp, Lyx]
    basic edit-compile-view cycle (repeat example)
    others systems in history (RUNOFF, roff, Wordstar, ...)

Areas in which TeX does well and examples of each (several slides)
    typesetting
    math
    codifying style of document to application
    large documents
    languages
    extensibility

Some complications (1 slide)
    special characters
    periods

Won't argue why the TeX approach is better than other approaches (1 slide)
    it's for you to decide if using TeX is worth doing,
        e.g., easier, better ... for you

Bigger example (several slides)

Getting started (a few slides)
    obtaining system
    books, manuals and tutorials
    obtaining consulting help
    choosing the right system for you
    joining user's group

TeX Users Group history and function (1 slide)

Thank you slide
    followed by invitation for additional Q&A

Handouts
    TUG first year discount coupon
    another example
    list of useful URLs
        CTAN, TUG, comp.text.tex, texhax, ....
        vendors
        other suppliers
        editor suppliers