[metapost] Trying to figure out MPLib

[Hans Hagen]

On 3-8-2012 13:16, Shriramana Sharma wrote:

> Isn't it possible to package mplib like any other library out there? I
> mean I am thinking of Debian-style packages like: metapost (front-end
> executable depends on libmplib), libmplib (which contains a shared
> library and essential data files like plain.mp or such), libmplib-dev
> (contains .h files).

Formats like plain.mp are independent of the library and already ship 
with tex distributions (makes not much sense otherwise, as they often 
depends on other resources like fonts). Furthermore the audience is 
pretty specific (mostly tex users) so spending too much time on 
alternative packaging is not high on the agenda of the dev team.

> Basically I want the program to be dissociated from TeX as I do not
> require any label typesetting (which I hope is the only reason MPost
> needs TeX or kpathsea) to be done by it. The important reason I am
> using MetaPost/MPLib is to calculating the control points needed for
> smooth strokes.

So, just take the library and package it indepently. Of course one might 
wonder what benefits metapost provides in that case. Also, mplib is not 
yet finished and all testing happens in a (mostly embedded in tex) 
environment.

Hans


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