1 Apr 2012 21:35:11 -0000

Did anybody else see this news item today? Thought it might be ofinterest.
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*) Aria

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MICROSOFT BUYS TEX, PLANS NEW PRODUCTS

STANFORD PROFESSOR REAPS WINDFALL

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, USA (CNEWS/MSNBC) --- In a major move into the scientific publishing market,
Microsoft Corporation announced today that it has purchased all rights to the computer language and
document compiler known as TeX (pronounced, "tech"), and plans a major new product line based on the
30-year-old software.

Stanford Professor Donald Knuth (pronounced, "kah-nooth"), the author of the widely-used TeX software,
in a joint press conference at the university campus with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, acknowledged
that the two had been negotiating for some months. "I felt that two decades of TeX in the public
domain was enough. I am reasserting the copyright to my original work in TeX. Microsoft will carry the
ball now, and I can get back to my computer science research." Knuth acknowledged he was paid a
"seven-figure sum" from Microsoft, which he will use to finance his work on a project he has code-named
"Volume 5".

Date of Publication 04/01/12