Troff

troff
 /T'rof/, /trof/, n.

   [Unix] The gray eminence of Unix text processing; a formatting and
   phototypesetting program, written originally in {PDP-11} assembler and
   then in barely-structured early C by the late Joseph Ossanna, modeled
   after the earlier ROFF which was in turn modeled after the {Multics}
   and {CTSS} program 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.
    

troff

   <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)
    

TROFF
       Typesetter New Run-OFF (Unix)