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If Knuth/Lamport/anyone else had created a typesetting system with the flexibility and power of TeX, using everything we have learned about computation and programming languages in the last 35 years, in what ways would it differ from TeX?

(Note that I'm asking what differences would exist from a user's perspective, rather than in the source code itself.)

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There would be more bugs and it would take 1GB without any packages ;-) – ℝaphink Oct 14 '12 at 19:59
You would also need an InnoDB database and tons of XML dependencies to run it, and it would be written in mono. – ℝaphink Oct 14 '12 at 20:00
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask an unconstructive question. (Is there a way in which I can run more general questions past someone before posting them?) – Mohan Oct 14 '12 at 21:47
The topic of the question is not unconstructive, more the speculative part. In the current form it does not really have an answer can therefore not really be answered. It might fit better on stackoverflow, as it is more programming and computer science oriented. – Alexander Oct 14 '12 at 22:01
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Related: An Earthshaking Announcement by Donald E. Knuth ;) – Qrrbrbirlbel Oct 14 '12 at 22:48
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closed as not constructive by egreg, Kurt, zeroth, cgnieder, percusse Oct 14 '12 at 20:15

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