[Python-Dev] The docs, reloaded

[Armin Ronacher]

Hoi,

Martin Blais <blais <at> furius.ca> writes:

> About possibilities: I'm sorry but that is simply not true.  LaTeX
> provides the full power of macro expansion, while ReST is a fixed
> (almost, roles are an exception) syntax which has its own set of
> problems and ambiguities.
I was speaking of rst in comparison with other lightweight markup languages.
(textile, markdown, wiki syntax). 

> That, and the ability to already parse it from Python and more easily
> convert to other formats (one of LaTeX's weaknesses), are the only
> benefits that I can see to switching away from LaTeX.  I have to admit
> I'm afraid we would be moving to a lesser technology, and the driver
> for that seems to be people's reluctance to work with the more
> powerful, more complex tool.  Not saying it is invalid (it's about
> people, in the end), but I still don't see what's the big problem with
> LaTeX.
The problem with latex is that it requires more knowledge thus the amount of
people that can contribute is a lot lower. It's a lot harder to generate a
searchindex, do interlinking, generate a dynamic documentation with comments etc.

Don't get me wrong, LaTeX is a powerful tool and I use it for every bigger
document i type. I just think it's not the best choice for documenting scripting
languages.

Regards,
Armin