[tex-live] tl2rpm: TeX Live 2008 packages to rpm converter

[Robin Fairbairns]

Zdenek Wagner <zdenek.wagner at gmail.com> wrote:

> 2008/8/21 Karl Berry <karl at freefriends.org>:
> > With scheme-basic as the default, I suspect most people who actually
> > want to use TeX (for anything) will be frustrated, since very little of
> > what they expect will be installed, while others will happily figure out
> > the yum invocation above.
>
> I think all redhat users know how to use "yum search" and "yum
> provides" for searching RPMs.

maybe all redhat users who install their own systems.  there are an
awful lot of redhat systems in this lab which are installed by sysadmins
and apart from the occasional package request ("enter a package name in
your file in /etc/user-packages" or some such) those systems remain
unchanged until the phd is complete 3 years later.

> It is also questionable whether to use "rpm -I" or "rpm -U". Some
> users might need several versions of TL and switch between them by
> setting PATH, other user would just like to upgrade.

sure, _i_ might want such complications, and maybe a few others like you
and me.  not everyone's interest in tex is (like mine) to see a good
system develop ... there are real users too.

and real users probably don't want a stripped down tex system installed,
one that requires them to install extra stuff as soon as they get beyond
story.tex

i have empirical evidence (from observing users' interactions with my
colleague sysadmins) that the user-on-the-street is irritated by finding
an installation is inadequate to their requirements.

there's a skill to creating a good "basic" set, but that skill is not
that of identifying the minimum we can fob people off with.

robin