[OS X TeX] End of i-Installer/i-Packages support per 1/1/2007

[Norman Gray]

On 2006 Nov 12 , at 22.42, Gerben Wierda wrote:

> The i-Installer and the i-Packages will still be available. There  
> will be updates and support until 1/1/2007. After  that, I will  
> only update stuff if I need it for my own personal use. And  
> something like the fully automated updates of the ConTeXt updater  
> will keep running.
>
> Besides, it is all open source and can be downloaded from  
> SourceForge. Anybody can download and build i-Installer and i- 
> Packages. Until 1/1/2007 I will also work on cleaning up  
> documentation etc. to support this. If people want to take over the  
> role of i-Packages editor or i-Installer maintainer, I'll help them  
> too.

Ditto to everything folk have said.

I've spent long enough with LaTeX that I probably could install it  
the hard way, but I'm extremely glad and grateful that Gerben has  
allowed me to largely forget how to do that: I treasure my  
rediscovered ignorance.

Gerben has done his duty in the salt mines.  Can we here assemble  
some sort of community process to keep the i-Installer and the i- 
Packages going -- to catch the ball Gerben has passed, before it hits  
the ground?

What needs done?

* ii2 is in sourceforge (damn: I was half-planning to volunteer for  
that!), with two developers.

* A quick glance through the i-Packages tree suggests that most of  
the content there is shell and Perl scripts to handle the  
installation of components.  Do they take much maintainance?

* Gerben has said that the prospect of keeping up with TeXLive was  
daunting.  Can you go into a little detail, Gerben?  Is that the sort  
of task that could be decomposed and distributed?

* Do I get to be the first to say `wiki'?

My Objective-C skills are too weak to be useful; *TeX I'm OK with;  
scripting I can do with my teeth gritted.  I can't in all conscience  
devote a lot of time here, but it's certainly in my interests to  
donate some effort at least, if a way can be found to keep Gerben's  
distribution going, in a way which spreads the effort around.

I say this with a great deal of trepidation: I am _not_ looking for  
extra work now.  But if I can donate some of the effort that Gerben  
has hitherto saved me -- countable in days -- then I've still gained.

Any suggestions for a process, anyone?

Norman


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
----
Norman Gray  /  http://nxg.me.uk
eurovotech.org  /  University of Leicester, UK



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