Message-Id: <199601281202.HAA26115@locke.ccil.org>
Date:         Sun, 28 Jan 1996 05:10:50 -0500
Reply-To: Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Refgrammar
To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
Status: OR
Content-Length: 2304

>lojbab wrote:
>>Actually, I suspect the swordplay will stop when Cowan says "the refgrammar
>>is done.  Publish it!".  And the publication decision will then be that of
>>the publisher and any financial backers who are paying for the publication
>>(since LLG will not have enough money to publish without outside backing
>>= donations haven't nearly been on the scale needed to publsih books).
>
>Is it essential to publish the refgrammar as a book?

ABSOLUTELY!  The vast majority of our mailing list is not to my knowledge
on the net.  And even those who are on net do not all have the
capability and knowedge to fiddle with Web sites and/or print Postscript.

Furthermore, you cannot yet put a Web page on a library or bookstore shelf,
and I really don;t want to limit our market to those who are net competent.
JCB is probably STILL reaping the occasional contact from those who find old
copies of his books in university libraries.

In addition, a book is considered a more valid bibliographic item for
research use, and we have people who want to do research with Lojban.

And finally and most important: there are a LOT of people who will not
believe that we are serious when we say we are done with the development
of the language until we commit ourselves to print.  The refgrammar files
have been out there for months, and many do indeed download them.  But
a "real" book is far more tangible and believable than anything on the net.

In addition, the cost of printing the thing off one copy at a time is
enormously expensive.  Yeah, we can make people bear the burden themselves,
but the resulting "book" ends up 8 1/2 by 11" which is an inconvenient
size for reading in bound form, most will probably have it single sided
making for a LOT of pages.  500 copies on your home laser
printer probably costs $20-$25 in printing costs.  Downloaded through a
cmmercial service is probably worse - never checked Kinko's prices.

I HAVE the refgrammar pages stacked on the table next to me, since Nora is
reviewing them.  They are NOT easy to use in that size.

Now I believe we are planning that the book-material will be available in
final form on-net, but I am not sure in what form.  Probably something TeX
related, which of course is totally unintelligible to those in the MS-DOS
world.

lojbab