Re: [Groff] Overview, Sept. 2014

[Peter Schaffter]

Bertrand --

On Fri, Sep 12, 2014, Bertrand Garrigues wrote:
> I would not be afraid to dive into the source code. Although my main
> language is C, not C++, groff's C++ code seems quite understandable for
> a C programmer, as it was already said in the list. The problem is that
> I didn't feel I had sufficient general knowledge on groff to
> participate to the conversation, and other newcomers probably feel the
> same. I'm not that young but yes, I don't even understand the current
> behaviour of .ul !

There's a generational aspect to groff development that makes it,
if not unique, at least a rarity.  From roff to contemporary groff
spans many decades.  Some list members were there at the Big Bang.
Others came in only after GNU/Linux made UNIX widely available.
Others are fresh out of school, so to speak.  I came to the project
as a sort of middle-generation newcomer, and it took a while before
I felt like anything more than the brash and annoying new kid on the
block.

The feeling didn't originate from the list, which is one of the most
welcoming and supportive there is; it was the natural response to
feeling I might be treading on the toes of my significantly wiser
elders.  Or, more colourfully, I couldn't help feeling that with
people like Eric and Doug and Brian on the list, God was watching.

I have often wondered whether this perfectly understandable but
entirely self-generated anxiety is a factor in the willingness, or
unwillingness, of other new kids on the block to get down and dirty
with groff.

Just thoughts, folks...

-- 
Peter Schaffter
http://www.schaffter.ca