Next: Documentation and resources
Up: An introduction to TEX
Previous: Background
One of the key benefits of LATEX is that all of the data files are
plain text files. This means they can be read and written on virtually any
computer system in the world. In addition, because the LATEX system
has been ported to so many computer architectures and operating
systems, it too is universal, and if you
have the LATEX source files, you can create the finished product on
virtually any modern computer. Another virtue is that it is
archival. A raw TEX file created in 1984 can still be read and
compiled today, to produce output identical to that created in 1984.
Can you imagine trying to use Word2003 to read a file created by
the first edition of MSWord, or even 10 years ago? This archival feature cannot be overstated.
Free, high-quality versions of LATEX (and the TEX installation it
requires) are readily available from a number of sites as well. See, for
instance, the Comprehensive TEX Archive Network at
http://www.ctan.org, and the TEX
Users Group Website at
http://www.tug.org.
David Wood
2007-06-25