[texhax] learning tex vs latex

[bill lam]

I'm unfamiliar with both tex and latex. Should my time better spent on
learning tex or latex?  Presumably learning curve of tex is even more
steeper than that of latex, but I saw some forum members said they use
plain tex.  I would like to know before deciding,

1. Do common packages such as supertabular and cjk work on tex?
2. Some said latex is actively developing while tex is not, is that
   true?
3. What will be the advantage of plain tex over latex?

-- 
regards,
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