[OS X TeX] local vs. global symlink

[Maarten Sneep]

On 28-nov-2006, at 18:51, Claus Gerhardt wrote:

> The last days I used the local symlink for tex and found that its  
> more convenient for me: Switching is simpler, for no password is  
> required, and the command line I didn't need, since I ran texdoc  
> from Local Switcher and kpsewhich as a TeXShop macro, and these are  
> the only tex related commands that I use in the terminal.
>
> The majority of tex users will therefore be better served by using  
> a local symlink.

I have a few observations:

1) support is going to get a whole lot harder, because individual  
users on a single machine may have different settings. We already  
have the problem that different versions exist, but this adds a lot  
of opportunity to screw up, and adds configuration requirements for  
individual accounts. The global links should exist as a backup.

2) the number of users that want multiple versions installed is  
vanishingly small, in my estimate.

3) I think it is desirable to have a small tool that diagnoses the  
current configuration and produces a summary suitable for posting to  
this list, in case of trouble. I think over time we can come up with  
a set of checks. I'd be willing to put those in a set of php pages  
where users can run the checklist to avoid FAQs on this list. Dick,  
is it possible to add a really small script to each version of the  
tex distributions you create that does nothing more than print the  
version of tex that is available? That should get us started in  
pinpointing issues.

Maarten
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