[OS X TeX] thanks to Gerben Wierda

[Roussanka Loukanova]

I have been using Gerben's i-Installer and TeX on Mac X very happily,
mostly with Emacs, but also with TeXShop. Now, as I've been engaged in
setting up my new MacBook Pro freshly with the new versions of Emacs, 
TeXShop, Gerben's TeXLive (etc mutually working tools), and using these 
email lists for help, I want to post my own gratitude to Gerben Wierda for 
all of his services to us (in the past and on-going, and hopefully, in 
the future); and also to the rest of the gang of developers, since all 
these tools work in tandem. I can say that, if I am using a Mac today, it 
is for TeX on Mac, which, already for several years, is Gerben's TeX. 
Textures was good too, but one had to buy it, and esp. after one gets 
into using Emacs, Gerben's TeX has been the best choice, at least for me. 
Now, a divergence (I like them), but not too far away:

In the history of mathematics, there have been many speculations
about possible revolutions in mathematics (e.g., with developments of
mathematical analysis, math logic and computability). Then, wasn't it
that mathematics contributed computers, directly and indirectly? And
right soon after that, we have been witnessing and experiencing the 
advent of the computers in all branches of everyday life, sciences and
technologies, including mathematics itself. Not only that computers were
contributed by mathematics, but vice versa, the computers accelerated a
new stage in mathematics, which has entered in revolutionary Renaissance.

Virtuously, computers have been influencing the entire mathematics:
both theory and application developments themselves, but also
the way mathematicians perform math. A significant portion of it, 
nowadays, is by typesetting with TeX. We also teach and require our 
students to typeset their course and project reports with LaTeX. And, 
quite many of us use TeX on Macs; and quite many of us use Gerben's TeX. 
(A statistical look may show that most of those who use TeX on Macs do 
so, or intent to).

Another small divergence: My 1st attempt on AUCTeX/Emacs customization
was by adding an external command to the AUCTeX/Emacs' Command list. (I 
use very often the command simpdftex for tex files with dvips 
specialties.) For that, I was helped out by Gerben Wierda (dispite that, 
as it seems to me, he uses mainly TeXShop, not Emacs, and), on the verge 
of his deadline to complete the new packages i-Install and TeXLive. What he 
suggested worked right away.

Now, I am back to my testing the New TeXLive 2006. (I have already some
questions on some of that...)

Gerben, thanks for supporting our work.

Roussanka
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Roussanka Loukanova
Computational Linguistics
Dept. of Linguistics and Philology
Uppsala University
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