[tex-live] kpathsea -- texmf.cnf

[Reinhard Kotucha]

ricard.torres at udg.edu writes:
 > Dear TeXlive developers,
 > 
 > In a linux machine (Mandriva 2008.1), with a bash shell version
 > 3.2.19(2)-release, for some reason the syntax based on "~" used in
 > the default "texmf.cnf" is not correctly interpreted, and results
 > in a directory with this name, literally "~", being built under the
 > home directory. On the other hand, if I replace "~" by the older
 > syntax "$HOME", things work as expected. I wonder if you'd like to
 > do that, so as to avoid problems. In case the answer is
 > affirmative, I attach a patch to save you the trouble.

Hi Ricard,
could you please tell us more about the TeX Live system you are using?

It seems that you are using a new texmf.cnf file and an old version of
the kpathsea library.  Tilde expansion had been introduced a few
months ago.  ~ expands to $HOME on Unix systems and to %USERPROFILE%
on Windows.  Your patch can't be applied because TeX Live 2008 depends
on the new behavior.  There is only one texmf.cnf file for all
platforms, including Windows.  The idea is that you can install TL on
a server and mount it on various client machines.  This is much easier
now than in the past.

Tilde expansion works fine on Unix and Windows if your programs are
linked against the current version of the kpathsea library.

Hence the question again:  Where did you get texmf.cnf from and where
did you get the files in bin/<platform> from?

And please be careful.  If tilde expansion doesn't work for you, it
can happen that directories with the name ~ are created.  Keep in mind
that something like "rm -rf ~" wipes out your whole $HOME tree... 
If you are unsure, use rm with the -i option.

Regards,
  Reinhard

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Reinhard Kotucha			              Phone: +49-511-3373112
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