[OS X TeX] Using 'ditto' to shrink /usr/local/texlive folder

[Herbert Schulz]

On Jan 30, 2012, at 4:07 PM, SB Tech wrote:

> ...
> On Jan 30, 2012, at 7:03 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
> 
>> Would that mess up tlmgr updates?
> 
> Which is a good question.  However, in my case, not being a TeX pro by any
> means, it's unlikely I'll be touching tlmgr.  You also point out that
> updates to TeX Live on the Mac are "very rare", so that's another thing for
> me not to worry about :)
> I will ask, just to make sure: presumably I won't be losing any other
> functionality by deleting the aforementioned folder?  For example, it's
> conceivable that some binaries in the /universal-darwin folder are used
> regardless of the architecture you're running?  Like I say, just making
> sure.
> ...

Howdy,

I didn't say that! TeX Live is being updated all the time and sometimes for fixing significant bugs in supplied packages. What I said was that the binaries on the Mac are rarely updated. Other things that reside in the binary folders (<- note plural) are symbolic links to many scripting language programs (e.g., perl) which can/are updated even after TeX Live is released.

You don't have to be a ``pro'' (not many of use are actually paid for our work) to want to use tlmgr to update your distribution. If you wish a simple way to use it open TeX Live Utility and follow its directions. You can find that application in /Applications/TeX.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)