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<title>Invoking groff (The GNU Troff Manual)</title>

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<h2 class="chapter" id="Invoking-groff-1">2 Invoking <code class="code">groff</code></h2>
<a class="index-entry-id" id="index-invoking-groff"></a>
<a class="index-entry-id" id="index-groff-invocation"></a>

<p>This chapter focuses on how to invoke the <code class="code">groff</code> front end.  This
front end takes care of the details of constructing the pipeline among
the preprocessors, <code class="code">gtroff</code> and the postprocessor.
</p>
<p>It has become a tradition that GNU programs get the prefix &lsquo;<samp class="samp">g</samp>&rsquo; to
distinguish them from their original counterparts provided by the host
(see <a class="pxref" href="Environment.html">Environment</a>).  Thus, for example, <code class="code">geqn</code> is GNU
<code class="code">eqn</code>.  On operating systems like GNU/Linux or the Hurd, which
don&rsquo;t contain proprietary versions of <code class="code">troff</code>, and on
MS-DOS/MS-Windows, where <code class="code">troff</code> and associated programs are not
available at all, this prefix is omitted since GNU <code class="code">troff</code> is the
only incarnation of <code class="code">troff</code> used.  Exception: &lsquo;<samp class="samp">groff</samp>&rsquo; is never
replaced by &lsquo;<samp class="samp">roff</samp>&rsquo;.
</p>
<p>In this document, we consequently say &lsquo;<samp class="samp">gtroff</samp>&rsquo; when talking about
the GNU <code class="code">troff</code> program.  All other implementations of <code class="code">troff</code> are called <abbr class="acronym">AT&amp;T</abbr>
<code class="code">troff</code>, which is the common origin of almost all <code class="code">troff</code>
implementations<a class="footnote" id="DOCF4" href="groff.html_fot.html#FOOT4"><sup>4</sup></a> (with more or less compatible changes).  Similarly, we say
&lsquo;<samp class="samp">gpic</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp class="samp">geqn</samp>&rsquo;, and so on.
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