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(groff)What Is groff?

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What Is `groff'?
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   `groff' belongs to an older generation of document preparation
systems, which operate more like compilers than the more recent
interactive WYSIWYG(1) (Note: What Is groff?-Footnote-1) systems.
`groff' and its contemporary counterpart, TeX, both work using a
"batch" paradigm: The input (or "source") files are normal text files
with embedded formatting commands.  These files can then be processed
by `groff' to produce a typeset document on a variety of devices.

   Likewise, `groff' should not be confused with a "word processor",
since that term connotes an integrated system that includes an editor
and a text formatter.  Also, many word processors follow the WYSIWYG
paradigm discussed earlier.

   Although WYSIWYG systems may be easier to use, they have a number of
disadvantages compared to `troff':

   * They must be used on a graphics display to work on a document.

   * Most of the WYSIWYG systems are either non-free or are not very
     portable.

   * `troff' is firmly entrenched in all UNIX systems.

   * It is difficult to have a wide range of capabilities available
     within the confines of a GUI/window system.

   * It is more difficult to make global changes to a document.

     "GUIs normally make it simple to accomplish simple actions and
     impossible to accomplish complex actions."  -Doug Gwyn (22/Jun/91
     in `comp.unix.wizards')