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TeX and Meta: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Bits
That's the theme of the 12th European TeX conference, which will be
held in Kerkrade in the Netherlands, from September 24 to 27.
So, what are "Good, Bad and Ugly Bits"? Traditionally we tend to focus on
Good Bits because they are so rewarding. It feels good to see a beautifully
typeset document that you were able to produce using all the power that
TeX and Metafont/MetaPost provide. We try to forget how many Ugly Bits
we had to overcome, and are proud that we found more or less elegant ways
to program around them. Nevertheless, some of these difficulties should be
regarded as Bad Bits that would not exist in an ideal world.
What can we do?
- First of all, keep up the Good Bits and extend them if possible.
- Analyze the Ugly Bits, learn from them, and find easy and generic
ways to get around them.
- Find the Bad Bits and eradicate them!
Let's make progress! Of course we need a lot of discussion to distinguish between
Good, Bad and Ugly, and about ways to deal with them. We invite you all to
demonstrate either of these bits. Feel free to present
your application (Good, not Bad or Ugly) at the conference!
Please contact the Program Committee
if you have any questions about giving a presentation at the conference.
For any other questions regaring the conference you can contact the
Organizing Committee.
Meanwhile, here's a challenge for you: make a visual expression of the
Good, the Bad and the Ugly, using TeX and Meta. The winner of the challenge
will be awarded! See the Good / Bad / Ugly page
for details and current submissions.
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