[tex-live] [Fwd: Re: TeXLive Perl + latexmk (windows)]

[Philip TAYLOR]

Philipp Stephani wrote:

> Some general thoughts: Operating-system independence is
> impossible because the look and feel of operating systems
> differ a lot. An application should have a native graphical
> interface that blends well with the operating system—MacTeX
> does that (the installation process, TeX Live Manager,
> TeXshop), but I'm not sure about Windows or Linux. It (the
> application) should be stored in the standard program directory
> (e.g. C:\Program Files),

That is the one point with which I would take issue.  As I have
written elsewhere, the naive belief that all Windows users
still live in the dark ages, have one physical drive with one
logical partition, and that it is Good Practice [tm] to store
programs and data on the same partition as the operating system
is a myth that needs to be eradicated, by force if necessary !

Any competent Windows installer (by whom I mean a person,
not a program) knows to divide the available disc space
into a number of disjoint partitions (e.g., system, programs,
read-only data, read/write data, scratch, swap), to keep (say)
C: solely for the O.S. (and for those things that Microsoft
/insist/ on installing there, offering the user no choice
in the matter), and to install all layered products (such as
TeX Live) on a separate partition, separating programs from
data from scratch space whenever possible.

It is, I believe, a great mistake that TeX Live, too, assumes that
a single partition will be used to hold the whole of a TeX
installation, and makes no provision for storing the binaries
outside of the primary data hierarchy.  [I would be very happy
to stand corrected if I am misjudging the TeX Live installer
here].

Philip Taylor