[OS X TeX] personal package : following 2

[Rob Rye]

On Dec 23, 2010, at 11:18 AM, Alan Munn wrote:

> On Dec 23, 2010, at 11:46 AM, Richard Koch wrote:
> 
>> Karine,
>> 
>> You do NOT have a problem. Don't reinstall.
>> 
>> 
>> I wrote you privately about personal files. These style
>> files and class files should be put int
>> 
>> 	~/Library/texmf/tex/latex
>> 
>> Here ~/Library is the Library folder in your home directory, NOT the system Library
>> folder. You will have to create the subdirectories texmf, tex, and latex. You can put
>> your files in subdirectories of this final "latex" directory if you like.
> 
> Hi Dick,
> 
> Since this is a problem that comes up from time to time, would it be possible for the MacTeX installer to check if the ~/Library/texmf folder exists, and if it doesn't create one with the appropriate folder structure?  (It's trivial to write a script to do this. (I can send you one.) This would probably save very new users a lot of frustration. I think many of underestimate how familiar users are with how the files on their computer are organized, so even the simple "make a bunch of directories" isn't as simple a task as we might think.
> 

I would second this request (but I have no script to offer). 

Creating logical folder structures in the appropriate location within the overall file structure of OS X is second nature to some of us. Nonetheless, in my experience trying to help some very bright academics install software on their computers I am consistently brought up short by the fact they have no idea where most of the guts of their software (preferences, etc.) actually reside on their hard drive, and frankly they don't want to know. To them, the fact that they use MacOS X means that everything should "just work." They don't want to fill their heads with the knowledge of how the folder structure is actually laid out on their machines. I can't really blame them. If I didn't know all those things, I might actually have room in my brain for useful information like where I left my slippers last night. 

Rob