[OS X TeX] Where did StMaryRd go?

[Alain Schremmer]

On Oct 25, 2008, at 2:26 PM, cfrees at imapmail.org wrote:

> On Sat 25th Oct, 2008 at 18:17, Franck Pastor seems to have written:
>
>>
>> Le 25 oct. 08 ? 18:13, Alain Schremmer a ?crit :
>>
>>> In order to try and take advantage of Richard Koch's "recommend 
>>> [ation to Benish] to basically start over with a new install of  
>>> TeXShop and SimpleTeX4ht" I downloaded and installed  
>>> BasicTeX-2008 and mactex-additions.mpkg.
>>> But, when I tried to typeset a recent file, I got the message
>>> 	File 'stmaryrd.sty' not found.
>>> and, when I hit return, got all sorts of incomprehensible stuff.
>>> So I used TeX Distribution to get back to gwTeX and everything  
>>> works as before (Big sigh of relief!) but what is going on?
>>> Puzzled regards
>>> --schremmer
>>
>> Well, BasicTeX deserves its name: it's really basic. As such it  
>> contains very few packages?
>
> To be honest, I know little about it and certainly have not installed
> or used it. It is designed to be small. It is aimed at users who must
> download over slower connexions or who have limited space. (Or, I  
> would
> suppose, new users who might want a minimal installation to try out.)
>
> Looking briefly at the documentation, it seems BasicTeX prioritises
> what you might call "infrastructure" over particular packages. So it
> enables you to use any of the major engines and formats, for example.
> It also supports European languages by including Latin Modern, Babel
> etc.
>
> But it doesn't include the range of fonts and support packages
> available in the full version of TeX Live. Something has to be left  
> out
> to make it small and I'd guess these are (1) the sorts of items which
> are likely to be most dependent on individual usage patterns and
> preferences; (2) easier to install later than, say, trying to add
> another engine or format. (Note: I know nothing about the actual
> decisions made re. BasicTeX's content. I'm just guessing on the basis
> of the documentation.) Regarding (1), stmaryrd is certainly not basic
> in the way that, say, being able to typeset accents correctly in  
> French
> or German is basic. So I'd guess these kinds of additional fonts are
> omitted in part because one person may need one set of symbols,  
> another
> a different set. Whereas accents etc. are pretty basic so Latin Modern
> is included.
>
> Because this is TeX Live 2008, BasicTeX also includes the TeX Live
> Manager. This enables you to add packages or "collections" to your
> installation if you need them. So, a third option - rather than
> installing MacTeX or downloading what you need from CTAN - would be to
> use the Manager to install what you need.
>
> See http://mactex-wiki.tug.org/wiki/index.php?title=TeXLive_Manager  
> for
> further information. You would want to look at the section on "further
> options" for the "install" option but read the earlier stuff first to
> make sure you understand how it works.

I completely agree that I was being, let us say, math-centric, that  
is, being a mathematician, I automatically assumed that BasicTeX  
would cater to my needs small as they are.

By the way, I was not complaining but just wondering WHY the stmaryrd  
that is ALREADY on my computer hadn't been found by TeX Live.

On second thoughts, though, I don't really want to know and will  
download the full package.

But, maybe, the contents of BasicTeX  or some link to them could be  
listed right by the download button?

Duly chastened regards
--schremmer