Richard Stallman Announces GNU C Language Reference Manual

[andyprough]

with TeX, Version 3.141592653 (TeX Live 2021 Gentoo Linux)
app-text/texlive-core-2021-r1

That's interesting, I'm on antiX which is Debian-based, and using texlive 2020.20210202-3. I don't know enough about TeX to know if significant compilation changes are introduced from one version to the next.

[bachchain]

A few decades late to the party, isn't he?

[Mahboi]

Not so much your age as ignorance and lack of ability to search before speaking. Texinfo files (and perhaps more commonly LaTeX) are just source files you use to generate final typeset output... they are still in common use for producing technical and research papers.

I did search for it, but I felt like rubbing it in. These bajillion formats that hold no value except that of being the one you're used to is a problem. Modernity is about growing into a greater general satisfaction, not holding on to your ultra specialised format for as long as you breathe. Holding on to aged and pointless designs and tools is the programmer's sin.

Also coder's answer was far better than the wiki article so it was worth asking. Thanks.

[gukin]

Wow, it's really great, maybe because I'm an old fart but I really like how he's laid it all out in an easy to read/understand format with examples. Well done Mr. Stallman.

[leo_sk]

I was able to compile it into a PDF by installing the texlive and texinfo packages, cloning the git directory with:
git clone https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/c-intro-and-ref.git

Then running 'make' on the git directory, which created a compressed file. Extract that file, get a folder called c-manual, cd into the c-manual folder and run:
texi2pdf c.texi

That created a 'c.pdf' file in the same folder.

This is my first time working with raw texi files, so there are probably far better ways to do the above, but I did get a PDF version from it.

There are instructions to make pdf, html or txt file in the makefile

[andyprough]

There are instructions to make pdf, html or txt file in the makefile

I should have thought to look there. But I did get to learn a little bit about texlive and texinfo by reading a few man pages.

[Developer12]

This is C language reference. Why to mention Rust? It is perfectly ok to not mention anything except C. If you need a Rust reference or, for example, Haskell reference, write it yourself and mention everything you want.

"Good choices include Lisp, Scheme, Python and Java." -RMS

[Developer12]

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as C, is in fact, GNU C, or as I’ve taken to calling it, GNU/C. C is not a language unto itself, but rather a component of a fully functional build system: GNU glibc, buildutils, and vital GNU Compiler Collection.

[Vermilion]

I wouldn't expect him to ever include it, but I still laughed at the exclusion of rust.[...]

He's suggesting beginner friendly languages. Rust is a great tool at what it does, but why the hell would anyone recommend it as a first language?

[adoptedPenguin]

I was able to compile it into a PDF by installing the texlive and texinfo packages, cloning the git directory with:
git clone https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/c-intro-and-ref.git

Then running 'make' on the git directory, which created a compressed file. Extract that file, get a folder called c-manual, cd into the c-manual folder and run:
texi2pdf c.texi

the Makefile already has sections to compile a pdf, html, plaintext, etc.
simply:

$ git clone https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/c-intro-and-ref.git
$ make c.pdf
$ make c.html
$ make c.txt

see the Makefile for more:

c-manual.tgz: c.texi cpp.texi fp.texi fdl.texi
mkdir c-manual
ln Makefile c.texi cpp.texi fp.texi fdl.texi c-manual
tar czf c-manual.tgz c-manual
rm -rf c-manual

c.info: c.texi cpp.texi fp.texi fdl.texi
makeinfo c.texi

c.pdf: c.dvi
dvipdf c.dvi

c.dvi: c.texi cpp.texi fp.texi fdl.texi
tex c.texi

c.doc:
makeinfo --docbook c.texi
c.html:
makeinfo --html c.texi
c.txt:
makeinfo --plaintext c.texi

clean:
rm -f c-manual.tgz c.dvi c.pdf c c-1 c-2 c.doc c.html c.txt
rm -f c.aux c.cp c.fn c.ky c.log c.pg c.tmp c.toc c.tp c.vr

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