[tex-live] rotating column content of a two-column document

[Joseph Wright]

On 21/06/2015 09:18, Philip Taylor wrote:
> 
> 
> Reinhard Kotucha wrote:
> 
>> But I definitely can't recommend casual users to go this way.  Things
>> are much too complex and require broad knowledge.
>>
>> If there are high-level macros available, I strongly recommend to use
>> them.
> 
> This characterises the LaTeX approach v. the Plain TeX approach.  LaTeX
> encourages the user to look for a package or packages that will solve
> his/her problem; Plain TeX encourages the user to write a bespoke
> package for him/herself.  By adopting the LaTeX approach, the "casual
> user" will always remain a casual user, dependent on the work of others;
> by adopting the Plain TeX approach, the casual user is forced to think
> for him/herself, to research (in this example) the benefits and
> limitations of direct access to the PDF transformation matrix, the
> specification for the generation of bar codes, whether such bar codes
> can be represented by nothing more complex than the superposition of a
> sequence of TeX \rules & \kerns and the corresponding digit glyphs, and
> so on.  And by so doing, the once-casual-user will become a power user,
> able to think for him/herself, no longer dependent on the work of others.

Or more likely for most people, they decide TeX can't do what they want
for a reasonable effort and use some other tool.
--
Joseph Wright