[texhax] atchange

[Reinhard Kotucha]

>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Schneider <toms at ncifcrf.gov> writes:

  > I tried it with -w and it gave these two lines repeatedly:

I also had problems using the -w option.  There are some other
solutions to tell the shell where to find Perl but they had been
developed by Peter Szabo.  It only makes sense to use them if you
don't insist to understand how they work.  Peter Szabo is absolutely
crazy.

See:

  http://www.inf.bme.hu/~pts/Magic.Perl.Header/magicc.txt

Does anyone understand how the haeders work?

As I said before, Peter is absolutely crazy.  You do not have any idea
how crazy he is. Examine the following file:
__________________________________________________________________
int qq=0;/*\def~#1~{}~{{=;{#*/
#include <stdio.h>
#define q(q) char w=0,v[]=q
q("@n'+,#'/*{}w+/w#cdnr/+,{}r/*de}+,/*{*+,/w{%+,/w#q#n+,/#{l,+,/n{n+,/+#n+"
",/#;#q#n+,/+k#;*+,/'r :'d*'3,}{w+K w'K:'+}e#';dq#'l q#'+d'K#!/+k#;q#'r}eK"
"K#}w'r}eKK{nl]'/#;#q#n'>{>#}w'>{>{nl]'/+#n';d}rw' i;# >{nl]!/n{n#'; r{#w'"
"r nc{nl]'/#{l,+'K {rw' iK{;[{nl]'/w#q#n'wk nw' iwk{KK{nl]!/w{%'l##w#' i; "
":{nl]'/*{q#'ld;r'}{nlwb!/*de}'c ;;{nl'-{}rw]'/+,}##'*}#nc,',#nw]'/+kd'+e}"
"+;#'rdq#w! nr'/ '> }+}{rl#'{n' '># }'+}##<!!/"),s
...
[stuff omitted]
...
__________________________________________________________________
 
You can download the complete file from 

    http://www.inf.bme.hu/~pts/xmas2005.c

Do you have any idea what it does?  From his web-site:

 >  The C program source code below prints a well-known Christmas
 >  poem. However, if you compile it in C++, it still works, but prints
 >  the poem with a slight modification. Even more, the program is also
 >  a valid Perl script, and prints the poem with a different small
 >  modification. If you want to print the poem, compile the source code
 >  with plain TeX!

You might not believe, but everything he promised works for me.

On the other hand, I met Peter at the EuroTeX-2003 in Brest.  We
talked until 4 am and I had the impression that he is quite normal.

Regards,
  Reinhard

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reinhard Kotucha			              Phone: +49-511-4592165
Marschnerstr. 25
D-30167 Hannover	                      mailto:reinhard.kotucha at web.de
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft isn't the answer. Microsoft is the question, and the answer is NO.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------