[tex-live] SysAdmin Stuff (Was: Re: tl09 release status: coming up)

[Siep Kroonenberg]

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 03:35:57PM -0700, C.M. Connelly wrote:
> <#secure method=pgpmime mode=sign> 
> 
> (Changing the subject line, as this message is veering pretty far
> away from the original topic.)
> 
> "SK" == Siep Kroonenberg <siepo at cybercomm.nl>
> "CMC" == C.M. Connelly <cmc at math.hmc.edu>
> "RF" == Robin Fairbairns <Robin.Fairbairns at cl.cam.ac.uk>
> 
>     SK> E.g. if you sysadmin doesn't give you enough rights on
>     SK> your computer.
> 
>     CMC> I can assure you that if one of my users installed TeX Live
>     CMC> in their own account, I would be very, very unhappy with
>     CMC> them, and I'm fairly sure I speak for most sysadmins.
> 
>     RF> depends what you mean by "their own account" (it's
>     RF> ambiguous).
> 
> I meant in their home directory.  We actually trust people so much
> that we don't have quotas, but we also don't have huge amounts of
> space on the server so good citizenship is a must.
> 
> 
>     RF> i wouldn't mind in the slightest if they chose to install
>     RF> it on scratch space on their own computer ... except
>     RF> insofar as they failed to install it and expected me to
>     RF> pick up the pieces.
> 
> Right, which is why I'm not enthusiastic about letting people
> install random things on machines I manage.  If they want
> something, and it's sane, I give it to them.  If not, I explain
> why and encourage them to try it on their own machines (or on
> their laptops, which are less locked down).

Alternatives:

The root of the installation has a script tl-portable for running
from usb or from the original media without installing.

The text mode installer has an option `run from dvd' which
unfortunately again didn't make it into the gui installer.

Situations where a non-admin install makes sense:

At our university, most people use Windows. The standard university
desktop has a second partition on the hard drive, which is a good
place to install TeX into.

It is not uncommon that an installation ties itself into a knot and
has to be re-installed, for which there are semi-automated
procedures. A non-admin install on the second partition should
survive such an operation intact.

Although here they might as well use the university-provided network
installation.

And, as mentioned before, there is also the Vista problem.

-- 
Siep Kroonenberg