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by jandrese 3889 days ago
XML isn't even really in the same field as TeX. TeX is for typesetting, that's all it does. XML is for encoding general data. It's like saying PDFs are way better than protocol buffers.

TeX is incredibly powerful, but it's also incredibly idiosyncratic. I also personally think Computer Modern is an ugly font.
2 comments
leephillips 3889 days ago
TeX has long ago gained the power to use any OpenType/TrueType font on your system, so dislike of CM is really not a reason to avoid using it. (I happen to like CM, but I know it's disliked by multitudes.)
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wtbob 3889 days ago
> XML is for encoding general data.

No, it's really not. XML is a markup language, not a data-encoding language. JSON, S-expressions, ASN.1 &c. are all data encodings; TeX, LaTeX, HTML and XML are markup languages.

> TeX is incredibly powerful, but it's also incredibly idiosyncratic.

Agreed.

> I also personally think Computer Modern is an ugly font.

Eh, it's not great on-screen, but it looks pretty good on paper. But TeX & LaTeX have supported multiple fonts since the beginning.

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