[tex-live] texmf-dist -> texmf for TL'13

Karl Berry karl at freefriends.org
Thu Jan 24 23:37:18 CET 2013


For TL 2013, we have been contemplating merging texmf-dist back into
texmf, so there would once again be a single tree.

The original idea of texmf-dist was to be the "TeX tree" sharable among
(TeX, not operating system) distributions, while texmf would be the
binaries and other distribution-specific files.

This never happened in practice.  Moreover, nowadays, there are only two
TeX dists these days: TL and MiKTeX.  And MiKTeX has its own directory
trees and there is no realistic chance of somehow sharing a texmf-dist
(or significant gain to be made by doing so -- just the opposite).

Nevertheless, I felt I should mention the proposed change and give
anyone interested a chance to comment/object.  I don't foresee any
notable user-visible changes as a result, or rather, that users would
have to do anything any differently.

To reiterate: naturally, a change of this magnitude would not be pushed
out during TL'12 updates.  It would happen for the first time with fresh
TL'13 installs.

k


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