nroff drivers

Earl H. Kinmonth cck at deneb.ucdavis.edu
Wed Aug 16 16:03:28 AEST 1989


The good news:

In a world of software ripoffs, there are two companies (in my
experience) that generally give you good or very good value for your
money: SCO and MKS.

The bad news:

Even saints don't do it right all of the time.

The problem:

SCO troff and nroff come with drivers for nifty devices like the CAT
photo typesetter and the model 33 Teletype. Unfortunately, I do not
have access to the Smithsonian Institution, where I presume such
devices can be found. I kicked and screamed when they (the Computer
Center) pulled the O-27 key-punch out from under me, but I lost the
battle.

Here in Davis, in that jerkwater institution known as the University of
California, I have access only to such primitive devices as Xerox and
Hewlett Packard laser printers, HP Think and Quiet Jets, Epson,
Panasonic, and NEC (gawd, don't those names sound foreign and
subversive!) dot-matrix machines, etc.

While I realize that wanting to use SCO nroff with a laser printer is
rather like using Old Glory in lieu of charcoal starter for a White
House barbeque, I also suspect there must be a few other pinko,
subversives out there, who might not only have had the same wish, but
who have actually realized their carnal desires. Maybe there are even a
few real weirdos who have drivers for Epson, Panasonic, NEC, etc.,
printers, the same way there are a few nuts who drive Toyotas, Nissans,
Hondas, etc.

Is there any chance you might share your perverted "drivers" with me?

(I'm only interested in true hard core -- something that works with the
-e option and plot mode. Sneaking looks at Playboy when I was a
teenager taught me how to handle softcore. I want the real thing!)

Rhetorical question:

Should I keep my copy of SCO (classic) troff in the hope that
collecting quaint, but otherwise useless software, achieves the cult
status (and value) of first edition comic books, green-tinted cut
class, useless farm implements, or any other of the high-priced
{junk|artifacts} one can find in "antique" shops along Cal 49 in the
Gold Country?

Earl H. Kinmonth
History Department
University of California, Davis
916-752-1636 (voice, fax [2300-0800 PDT])
916-752-0776 secretary

(bitnet) ehkinmonth at ucdavis.edu
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