Consider the following source file that we’ll call passthrough.markdown:

There is a project trying to build something like LaTeX but isn't LaTeX that can be found at: <https://github.com/typst/typst/>

It requires some review.

Then consider the following source file that we’ll call markdown-test.tex:

% !TeX program = lualatex
% !TeX encoding = UTF-8

\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{extarticle}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{relsize}
\usepackage{markdown}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{xurl}
\usepackage[autostyle, english = american]{csquotes}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Domitian}
\setsansfont{Quattrocento Sans}
\setmonofont{IBM Plex Mono}

\usepackage{lastpage}

\MakeOuterQuote{"}
\usepackage{microtype}

\DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.png,.jpg}

\author{}
\title{}
\date{}

\hypersetup{
    pdftitle={},    
    pdfauthor={},   
    pdfsubject={},  
    colorlinks=false,       
    pdfpagemode=UseOutlines,
    bookmarksopen=true,
    pdfkeywords={},
    allcolors={black},
    pdfstartview=FitH,
}

\begin{document}
\markdownInput{passthrough.markdown}
\end{document}

If you take those sources, make them proper local files, and then run them through the latest TeX Live you’ll find that the Markdown file will get incorporated into the LaTeX source and still be processed thanks to the markdown package on CTAN currently maintained by Vít Novotný. This is somewhat different from using pandoc. Consider the following invocation of pandoc using the Markdown source from above:

pandoc --output contrast.tex --from markdown --to latex --standalone passthrough.markdown

That ends up giving you a contrast.tex that looks different than what I created above. The difference was a bit subtle. The link in the markdown snippet isn’t turned into something that would generate a hyperlink in the LaTeX. In the first the markdown package reads the link in the incorporated-by-reference source and will turn it into a hyperlink if you compile the LaTeX source. That’s not a difference you would expect.

Why worry about this? I haven’t fiddled with typst yet. I just wonder how flexible it may be as well as how consistent.

Besides, CTAN has an entire category devoted to parsing alternative markup formats which is why I have trouble understanding the need for something like typst. Much of what it apparently does is seemingly already implemented. Was the point to that they implemented their product in Rust in contrast to the unique language LaTeX is written in?

Yeah, I can write technical posts from time to time. I have MacTex 2023 installed on my MacBook Pro M1 now. I enjoy making good-looking documents using proper tools.