from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
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.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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)