troff definition
<text, tool> /T'rof/ or /trof/ The grey eminence of Unix
text processing; a formatting and phototypesetting program,
written originally in PDP-11 assembly code and then in
barely-structured early C by the late Joseph Ossanna,
modelled after the earlier ROFF which was in turn modelled
after Multics' RUNOFF by Jerome Saltzer (*that* name came
from the expression "to run off a copy"). A companion
program, nroff, formats output for terminals and line
printers.
In 1979, Brian Kernighan modified troff so that it could drive
phototypesetters other than the Graphic Systems CAT. His
paper describing that work ("A Typesetter-independent troff",
AT&T CSTR #97) explains troff's durability. After discussing
the program's "obvious deficiencies - a rebarbative input
syntax, mysterious and undocumented properties in some areas,
and a voracious appetite for computer resources" and noting
the ugliness and extreme hairiness of the code and internals,
Kernighan concludes:
None of these remarks should be taken as denigrating
Ossanna's accomplishment with TROFF. It has proven a
remarkably robust tool, taking unbelievable abuse from a
variety of preprocessors and being forced into uses that
were never conceived of in the original design, all with
considerable grace under fire.
The success of TeX and desktop publishing systems have
reduced troff's relative importance, but this tribute
perfectly captures the strengths that secured troff a place in
hacker folklore; indeed, it could be taken more generally as
an indication of those qualities of good programs that, in the
long run, hackers most admire.
groff is GNU's implementation of roff in C++.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-21)
Nearby terms:
Triton VX « Trivial File Transfer Protocol « TRO « troff » troglodyte » troglodyte mode » Trojan horse
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