[protext] ProTeXt question

[Karl Berry]

    - Which packages can be dropped, while there is still everything inside 
    to "write math/scientific paper"s?

You could use the equivalent of TeX Live's "scheme-small", which is the
same as MacTeX's "BasicTeX", which many people say they happily use for
more or less exactly this purpose. (Brief description at
https://www.tug.org/mactex/morepackages.html; I can send the exact
package list if it matters.)

However, I also think it's not actually necessary to define such a thing
for protext, because miktex, unlike TeX Live, will dynamically install
packages as needed. So we could just remove some of the biggest packages.

    - Is MiKTeX's installation-routine still usable with a package-reduced 
    istallation-archive?

You would know better than any of us. Can you try it? It should be
possible to install MiKTeX with more or less any set of packages,
because of the dynamic package installation feature. I haven't had
occasion to install MiKTeX for many years, but I did minimal
installations in the past.

    - Will i run into any licensing problems, when i extract any packages 
    from the installation-archive?

As far as I can imagine, no. Do you have something specific in mind?
There is no case where package x says that "legally, you must also
install package y".

   i'll see no chance for a size-reduction.

We are required to save space somehow, because next year it is almost
certain that the longstanding setup of TL (with reduced binaries) +
protext + ctan will not fit on one dvd. So the choices would seem to be:

0) Increasing capacity via either flash drives or two dvd's, but IMHO
that would cost the user groups too much money for too little benefit.

1) I could reduce TL, but (a) that is less good for users because TL does
not have on-demand package installation, and (b) a lot of work for me
because of the integrated way in which packages and collections are
bound together in TL.

2) You could reduce protext. I hope all you have to do is delete some
of the little-used big package files (notably fonts), with no other
work. At least, that seems like the first thing to try.

3) Manfred could reduce or eliminate CTAN, but that also seems less good
for users, since the things left in the CTAN snapshot are mainly nonfree
and therefore not available in either TL or MiKTeX. There is nothing
else left.

4) We stop distributing the DVD entirely -- but some users still like
them. My impression is that only a handful actually install from it
nowadays, but those that do really appreciate it, and many people like
having it as a more-or-less permanent archive.

Thanks,
Karl