[tex-live] kpsewhich

[Vladimir Volovich]

"GW" == Gerben Wierda writes:

 GW> On Mar 26, 2004, at 5:11 PM, Thomas Esser wrote:
 >>> When using kpsewhich, there is a dependency on the OS
 >>  It is not kpsewhich which causes this, it is the call to execute
 >> a shell command and the underlying interpreter which causes these
 >> differences.

 GW> I agree with Hans here. The $ before the variable name is
 GW> superfluous. In fact, the $ itself is also a shell construct
 GW> originally meaning 'variable'.

 GW> It could easily be implemented backwards compatible. Just ignore
 GW> any initial $ signs when trying to expand a variable. The old
 GW> calls would still work and we could promote the new style
 GW> (e.g. by producing warnings on the old style).

You are wrong. Apparently you did not read (or pay attention to)
emails with explanations sent by Olaf Weber. See

http://tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2004-March/005425.html
http://tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2004-March/005426.html

Best,
v.