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<div>I just saw the recent post from Bruno Voisin <bvoisin@me.com>
and the previous msg from "Gordon Lee."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I thus discovered to my surprise that I am again getting emails
from the Textures mailing list (thanks, Gary and Andrew).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I write "Gordon Lee" in quote marks, given that I had
been told by a friend of Barry Smith's that Gordon Lee in fact was a
pseudonym for Barry (who died last October). Something strange is
going on here!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Regarding the programs at the Dropbox, I do not know anything at
all about Intel code, and I don't know how to retrieve source code
from Intel binary code. I also have no idea what the new one-line
extra file Mail Attachment in the package could possibly be doing (is
ET calling home?).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Bruno's concern that the programs might contain malware worried
me. However, ignorant as I may be about code, even I can use a code
editor to compare files. I compared the programs from the Dropbox site
with copies of Textures 2.2.0b19 (Retina, non-Retina) that had been
sent to me in April by other members of the list.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>What I found is:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i>Each of the versions of Textures at the Dropbox differs at
exactly one byte (!!!) from the version I already had.</i></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>That hardly seems enough of a change to incorporate any
malware.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So I tried the version at the Dropbox for non-Retina; it works
fine on my three-year-old MacPro under OS 10.6.8. I do not have access
to a Retina machine to test the Retina version. I did not try deleting
the Mail Attachment file to see if the program would still work.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I run several malware detection programs (Sophos, ClamXav,
Symantec Endpoint). They have not detected anything suspicious.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>In response to previous posts, several individuals have expressed
"a plea that someone rescue the good things in Textures,"
such as (per Bruno):</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Textures' Synchronicity has always been
more precise than what is now provided by SyncTeX in modern TeX
engines. Same for Flash Mode, a very cool and useful feature. If
Textures was open-sourced the way Y&Y TeX has been, and the code
for Synchronicity and Flash Mode could be adapted to be included in
pdfTeX, LuaTeX and XeTeX, that would be great!</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>David Salamon <david.salomon@csun.edu>
remarked:</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>This software is so important to me that
I'm willing to pay anything within reason to keep it
working.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>It is fast, it allows me to include
images in PS and PDF, and its \special command is flexible,
well-designed, and much better than that of TeXShop.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Granted, the user interface is minimal,
but even so, Textures is too useful for us to lose.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>At least half a dozen respondents have promised funding for any
such effort, which would include purchasing the rights and possibly
pursuing further development (e.g., the suggestions from Bruno above,
and/or adaptation to iPad or new versions of Mac OS). Reinhard
Diestel <ReinhardDiestel@math.uni-hamburg.de> noted</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>According to Barbara Beeton, Barry's
widow [Dr. Allegra Smith]Š would be quite happy to sell these
assets, if only to pay for Barry's medical expenses.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
Any sale would have to be subject to the usability of Barry's legacy.
I had talked to Barry about the iPad project, and am now in touch
about this with the decision makers both at Springer and CUP. If his
work can be used to make iOS eBooks, there could be some money for
Allegra there that might be substantial. But even a more modest sum
put together by 20 or so people like you and me, with access to
research grants perhaps, might well be enough to persuade
her.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I think we should make Allegra an offer
[I omit the figure that he suggested, since that would need to be
negotiated depending on details that Dierk Schleicher notes
below---Paul C] through an appropriate intermediary such as your
contact. She'll be happy to have this over and done with if she
doesn't like the subject, and she'll be happier still if that entails
some cash for her.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>Dierk Schleicher <d.schleicher@jacobs-university.de>
suggests (with some slight editing by me)</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>[We could ask Dr. Smith] sell us the
hardware "as is" at any fair used hardware price for any
computers left behind (whatever the devices may be), provided that the
hardware and disks are as Barry/Gordon left them.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The deal could be:</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>a) price X in any case;</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>b) price Y>X if we manage to get
access to the data (that is, succeed in getting around password
barriers and manage to put together a system)</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>c) price Z>Y>X if some commercial
activity comes out of it. (Or price Z' if this becomes a
non-commercial open-source project.)</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>All this can be fixed by contract, and
Allegra should understand that there is a community of very faithful
Textures users who are very sympathetic to the product and to the
people who made it and managed it. These faithful users are interested
in keeping alive Barry's legacy -- and at the same time, helping
her pay back some of his medical expenses.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>Reinhard Diestel <ReinhardDiestel@math.uni-hamburg.de>
suggested waiting to hear from Barbara Beeton about any negotiations
that may be going on behind the scenes.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I hope to hear news from Barbara (or others) to the effect that
other negotiations are proceeding. Failing that, I think I should
follow Dierk's advice to contact the friend of Barry Smith and see if
he would be willing to approach Barry's widow about her receptivity to
an offer along the lines above.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Here is my own take on the whole matter:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>---"Gordon Lee"'s post has fulfilled Allegra's
intention of taking care of users, which she tried to do with the
original announcement at the Blue Sky portal of how users could renew
keys. The post should be a relief to her, since it should get
users off her back and relieve whoever owns Blue Sky now of
warranty-of-fitness obligation for the product (assuming that the
posted versions work for all (licensed) users).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>---Can enough of Barry's plans and source code be retrieved to
advance further development of Textures?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>---If there is to be further development of Textures, it must not
again be a one-person operation. Open-source could be a good way to
go; but is there a large enough group of enthusiastic users (there are
only 179 on this listserve)---and among them enough knowledgeable
programmer folks---who could contribute to such development? Though a
number of correspondents have indicated to me willingness to finance
an effort, none has indicated technical proficiency to do such
work.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>---Given TeXShop (caution: also mainly a one-person effort; and
what is its future?), is there really a "need" for continued
development of Textures?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This listserve---now that it seems to be working correctly
again---would benefit from more contributions to the discussion. So,
if you have advice or strong feelings, please post.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>With many thanks for your continued interest in what has been a
superb product,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Paul Campbell</div>
<div>campbell@beloit.edu</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>--------------------------</div>
<div>P.S. I am sending this msg to the Textures mailing list but also
to people who may not be on it but may be interested, after removing
names of those who wrote me to request removal. If you get this msg
and don't want to get any more, let me know (and also make sure you
are unsubscribed from the listserve); if you are already on the
mailing list and hence get two copies, let me know that, too.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>=================================</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Below is the original msg from "Gordon Lee", for the
benefit of those not on the mailing list:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>> I remark, as Mark Twain once did, "reports of my death
are greatly exaggerated."<br>
><br>
> Licensed users of Textures are invited to visit<br>
><br>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/obvww7r9xrq0l5l/Textures220b19.zip<br>
><br>
> where they will find versions of Textures (for Retina and
non-Retina machines) that</div>
<div>> work without seeking an installation key (but first read the
instructions enclosed in the zip).<br>
><br>
> I will not be available for any further development of Textures
and will not respond to any messages.<br>
><br>
> I must leave it to users to try to ensure that reports of the
death of Textures, too, "are greatly exaggerated."<br>
><br>
> Textures forever!<br>
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3"
color="#000000"
>--------------------------------------------------------</font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000">Paul J.
Campbell</font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000">Mathematics and
Computer Science<br>
Beloit College<br>
700 College St.<br>
Beloit, WI 53511-5595<br>
USA</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000">ofc:
send email instead</font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000">fax: (608)
363-2052<br>
res: (608) 362-2805</font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-3" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font></div>
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