使用 Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper 安装 lout

项目链接

• 主页
• 仓库

命令和别名

• lout
• prg2lout

项目历史

The official repository README identifies the current line as the Lout Document Formatting System, Basser Lout Version 3, copyright 1994-2023 by Jeffrey H. Kingston. The project blurb says Lout was created by Kingston at the University of Sydney and describes it as the outcome of an eight-year research project into a high-level language for document formatting.

Lout's distribution contains ANSI C source, makefile-based installation, standard library packages, hyphenation files, locale messages, man pages, documentation written in Lout, font metrics, and related software notes. Its feature set includes optimal paragraph and page breaking, hyphenation, equations, tables, diagrams, bibliographies, indexes, cross references, and multilingual document support.

采用历史

Lout is an older Unix typesetting tool that remains available in multiple package managers. The batch input records Homebrew, Alpine, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE packaging, which fits its role as a portable C document formatter rather than a single-platform application.

The GitHub mirror/repository created in 2020 carries tags for the 3.41 through 3.43 series, while the README records version 3.43 and the historical copyright range. That makes the modern package a continuation of a much older document-formatting lineage.

使用方式

The package installs `lout` for formatting documents and `prg2lout` for program-source formatting. The official README directs users to the makefile for installation and lists documentation, packages, hyphenation, fonts, maps, and man pages included in the source tree.

Lout source documents use high-level packages for reports, books, equations, tables, diagrams, graphs, program listings, and other structured output. Package maintainers care about its data directories as much as the binary, because the standard library, hyphenation data, fonts, and documentation are part of a working installation.

为什么软件包爱好者会关心

Lout is a package-history artifact from the same broad ecosystem as TeX, troff, and PostScript tools. It is not just another text filter: it ships a language, libraries, hyphenation data, manual corpus, and a mature C formatter, which makes it interesting for source-based packaging and long-tail Unix software preservation.

时间线

• 1994: Basser Lout Version 3 copyright line begins in the official README.
• 1999: Version 3.13 release noted in `whatsnew`.
• 2020: `william8000/lout` repository created on GitHub.
• 2023: Version 3.43 copyright line recorded in the README.
• 2026: Repository metadata shows continued activity.

Related projects

• TeX and troff are the historical comparison points named by Lout's own package summary and blurb.
• PostScript and PDF back ends are part of Lout's output story.

来源

• https://api.github.com/repos/william8000/lout
• https://github.com/william8000/lout#readme
• https://github.com/william8000/lout/blob/master/blurb
• https://github.com/william8000/lout/blob/master/whatsnew
• source_facts.package-manager-url