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I mean, are there reasons to use plain one? And if so, where, and what are benifits? Or should we forget plain-tex and use latex instead?

I see plain-Tex docs are much smaller, so the question is "if I can perform daily paper work with it".

M.Mass
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  • Blasphemy???!!! ;^) Seriously though, many use LaTeX to get more control over their document than, for example, Word allows. TeX provides even more control over the primitives. Also, one needs TeX to underlay every LaTeX compiler. In addition, it is a unique setup in that one can use most TeX primitive constructs inside a LaTeX document. – Steven B. Segletes Feb 24 '17 at 00:40
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    i know several tex users who won't touch latex; their projects need the fine control that is difficult to achieve with latex, unless you build the entire superstructure yourself, in the process sometimes having to overcome choices that were made within the latex core. i use plain tex for some tasks, since it's quite easy to make it do exactly what i want without having to remember the decisions made by various packages. and if you ever think you have found a tex bug, knuth will not accept a report unless its demonstration is presented in plain tex. – barbara beeton Feb 24 '17 at 00:56
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    @StevenB.Segletes One doesn't need plain though, surely? TeX, of course. But plain is a format on top of TeX. Admittedly a more basic one than LaTeX, but still 'just' another format. – cfr Feb 24 '17 at 01:05
  • One advantage of using plain is that one avoids all of the annoyances built into other formats, together with all of the bugs, except those which plain explicitly includes in its own right. One advantage of using latex is that one avoids all of the annoyances built into other formats, together with all of the bugs, except those which latex itself explicitly replicates. – cfr Feb 24 '17 at 01:08
  • I think the answer is a combination of (i) it depends on what you want to do (e.g.: want to submit to a journal that only accepts LaTeX2e? Then use LaTeX2e) and (ii) what you want to get out of doing it (e.g., learn as little as possible about TeX and just get a document written at the end of a day, or learn how and why to make TeX do your bidding). – jon Feb 24 '17 at 01:55
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    Probably many LaTeX users know almost nothing about TeX and plain TeX, whereas surely most plain TeX users are also LaTeX experts, including those who won't touch LaTeX. The reason to use plain TeX is that you know enough TeX to feel comfortable with plain TeX and you like it munch more that be coerced in some way by LaTeX structure depending of elaborated macros. – Fran Feb 24 '17 at 03:47
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    related http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/7278/reasons-to-use-plain-tex – touhami Feb 24 '17 at 06:29

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