[OS X TeX] More questions on MacTeX

[Herbert Schulz]

On Mar 9, 2008, at 11:59 PM, Justin C. Walker wrote:

>
> FWIW, typical Unixy usage is that "." files (other than "." and  
> "..") are "hidden" and not intended for "normal" use.  I suspect  
> from a quick check of ~/.texlive2007 on my system that it is a  
> "cache" of sorts for use of some part of the TeX package.
>
> I would not worry about that directory.  I suspect that you could  
> remove it without serious harm (I have, and so far, my system hasn't  
> blown up :-}).  At the same time, I would use ~/Library/texmf for  
> your "personal" additions to the TeX system.
>
> I'm happy to hear otherwise (except about the blowing up part).
>
> Justin
>


Howdy,

If TeX needs to create something (e.g., a tfm file for a font from a  
mf file in the background) it will create the necessary directory.  
Nice thing about using that rather than /tmp is that it stays around  
so it will be found again if needed.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest.com)