Can we turn off math-tex please?

Question

On the question How can I get rid of indentation after an equation?, the code block has had the bit between the dollars turned in to an image. Looking at the javascript scripts loaded via firebug, I notice one called 'math-tex'. I'm guessing that this is the culprit.

Could whoever decided that this was a good idea please turn it off. The question linked to above demonstrates all the reasons why this is a Very Bad Idea. I'd also like to point out that my answer to the We need Tex markup is the only one with net (strictly) positive votes.

Unless, of course, this is some subtle plan to encourage everyone to write their source code properly (ie using \( ... \) instead of dollars) in which case I whole-heartedly approve.

Answer 1

We have removed TeX processing for now.

Answer 2

I also agree. If there is one Stack Exchange website on which TeX math markup should be displayed exactly as typed, it's this one. We mostly want to discuss TeX itself here, not mathematics, so it's almost always better to show TeX source rather than render it as mathematics.

(There would be some benefit sometimes to being able to show how some bit of code is rendered in TeX — BTW, the output of Google Charts or MathJax may not always be up to the task here — but if such a feature exists, it should come into effect only when explicitly asked for, not automatically.)

Answer 3

I was also surprised that my code was rendered on a different question, but I think that a rendering service is very useful. Whether it's as a LaTeXit style box in the sidebar, or as a mouseover-to-view-source service (my personal preference), it needs to be present in some form.

I'm not always at a computer with LaTeX installed (and even if I am, this site is for TeX, LaTeX, and Friends, many of which I don't have or want to install). It takes far longer to copy, compile, and preview a piece of code than it does to view it in my browser. I expect to see new, confusing code, possibly with subtle bugs on this site, and I'm not going to be able to do the compilation in my head every time.

IMO, the default for any inlined or blocked code should be syntax highlighted text, and it should be able to be toggled to render on a mouse action. Can we do that?