[Axiom-developer] Pamphlet format discussion

[daly]

Steve writes:
> The idea is to allow different concepts to be associated with the
> sequences. For example, @[some address@hidden when appearing in a code chunk
> could escape into raw latex.

Each of these special syntax options means a learning curve for the
new user. These special syntax modes are only applicable in the
axiom project. We could achieve the same goals using standard latex
syntax.

The same effect could be achieved by making

  \begin{chunk}{C}

automatically escape << sequences,

  \begin{chunk}{latex}

automatically escape \

  \begin{chunk}{spad}

automatically escape [[
etc.

Making this work would take some time but would not be difficult.

Latex also involves a fairly steep learning curve but latex is widely
used in mathematics, mostly due to its typesetting abilities. However,
almost every conference I've been associated with expects (and
sometimes requires) latex. Thus there is a benefit beyond axiom for
learning latex, making the learning effort worthwhile.

Latex already is the standard for axiom documentation so people would
have to have at least a minimal understanding of latex. 

Note that I'm not advocating dropping weave, simply pointing out that
most of what we currently wish to do can easily be achieved using
standard latex and the already-necessary axiom.sty file.

Tim