TUG Unix CD: HTML documentation

[Sebastian Rahtz]

 > It would theoretically be possible to mount the CDROM directly on
 > the $TEXMF mount point, but it would sure be slow.  THat means that
its surprisingly reasonable, actually. mounted on my 486 Linux, i can
run LaTeX quite humanly. the ls-R database means no searching after
the startup, so the CD isnt hammered that much

 > virtually all users will want to extract the files onto a faster
 > storage device.  In the course of the extraction and installation, or
 > just after it, the rational names and directory structures can
 > be applied.
yes, but that makes the installation script considerably more
sophisticated.

 > I am doing that with the Solaris2.5 stuff.  The regular files
 > are (witn a few exceptions for purely Unix references) all kept
 > to 8+3 names, but the complete pkgmap links them to a more
 > reasonable organization---supplier first, *.300pk, all the stuff
 > that got thrown out with the DOS bathwater.  
but that means your users see a non-standard system when they use
it. i think thats bad news, they wont be able to talk to the rest of
us.

now if the package stuff you used were free and portable to all other
Unixes (or maybe it is?)..

 > I would still suggest that people look at SVR4 packaging.  The objections
 > I have seen to it assume several things about the system that are
i'll try anything thats portable.

are there any volunteers to put together an install/deinstall system
for me? based on tar listings, ie package XXX has a complete tar
listing of the files that make it up, rooted at texmf/, so one needs
to present all the known packages, and copy them on demand to some
place chosen on the hard disk

sebastian