[OS X TeX] Installing RTF2LaTeX2e

[Alex Scorpan]

> If you go to /usr/local/rtf2latex2e and type rtf2latex2e or  
> rtf2latex2e.bin, you get :
>                                                         -bash:  
> rtf2latex2e: command not found
>                                                         -bash:  
> rtf2latex2e.bin: command not found

Even though you may be in a certain directory (by going there with,  
say, cd /usr/local/rtf2latex2e) does not make the executables there  
(such as, say, rft2latex2e.bin) run simply by typing their name.   
When you just type a name, like
	foo
the system will only look in the places indicated in its PATH  
variable.  If the executable foo is not in a place specified in PATH,  
then it needs to be called with its full location.  For example, by  
typing
	/usr/local/rtf2latex2e/rft2latex2e.bin
Of course, it's a pain.  But, if you are in the directory /usr/local/ 
rtf2latex2e already, there is an abbreviation availbale: type
	./rft2latex2e.bin
The dot is an abbreviation for "here", just as double dot ("..") is  
an abbreviation for "parent directory"  (as in "cd .."), and tilde  
("~") is an abbreviation for "user's home directory" (as in "cd ~",  
which takes you to, say, /Users/andre).

It is a bit weird, because the paradigm of the Graphical User  
Interface makes you expect that, when you are "there" (as in: the  
folder is open in a window in front of your eyes), an application  
that is there runs when you simply call it (by double-clicking it, as  
it were).  For this, the UNIX layer has different paradigm: global  
choices come before whatever's in front of you.

If you think about it, though, it becomes less weird:  if you want,  
it is an extra layer of protection or precision:  typing "foo" will  
run your favorite foo, found in a location specified in the PATH  
variable, while typing "./foo" will run the foo that's right here;   
the two can be quite different, and this is one way to allow that  
difference.

Alex
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