[tex-live] fmtutil-sys, updmap-sys scripts

[Thomas Esser]

Hi Daniel,

thanks for your question regarding TEXMLOCAL / search paths priorities.
I can explain why I have implemented things the way they are now. However,
I can't offer a solution to your problem other then moving your config
files into a different tree... See below. I hope that my explanations
help you (and possibly other people, too).

> It seems that the new scripts fmtutil-sys and updmap-sys in TL2005
> no longer take into account the TEXMFLOCAL branch of the TEXMF tree.

Works as designed...

> More precisely, I have modified versions of updmap.cfg and fmtutil.cnf 
> in the TEXMFLOCAL tree of my servers.

Please, don't use the TEXMFLOCAL tree for this. Use the $TEXMFSYSCONFIG
tree instead.

> As a quick and dirty patch, I can do this: add

No, no. Such config files *should* not be put into TEXMFLOCAL.  Similarly,
you should not install pstricks into TEXMFSYSCONFIG or TEXMFCONFIG.

> 1) Could you think of a clean patch for fmtutil-sys and updmap-sys
>    so that they pick up their config files where kpsewhich expects
>    them to do so?

No.

> 2) I always wondered why TEXMLOCAL was put behind TEXMF(SYS)VAR
>    in TL standard texmf.cnf. Wouldn't it be more logical to search
>    -- first the personnal tree of the user (TEXMFHOME and co),
>    -- second the local trees of the machine (TEXMFLOCAL),
>    -- then the standard TL trees?

The tools *write* new files into $TEXMFCONFIG / $TEXMFVAR, nowhere
else. If the search path would prefer TEXMLOCAL over the VAR / CONFIG
trees, it would be impossible to modify these files:
  - writing into *CONFIG tree: the new file would be shadowed by the
    copy in TEXMLOCAL and not found by kpsewhich / tex + friends
  - editing "in place": violates my rule to modify files outside of
    TEXMLOCAL

I think that one could implement something else, but that would have to
happen outside of teTeX.

Thomas