[tex-live] textlive seems to ignore top of home tree

[Philip Taylor (Webmaster, Ret'd)]

Zdenek Wagner wrote:

> I sometimes do it too, but I tell th user:
>
> 1. If he or she is very inexperienced, I say "put it to the direcotry
> containing your document"
>
> 2. If he or she can undestand the concept of directories, I say
> "create such a directory and put it there", or if the package consists
> of several files, I create a TDS-compliant zip and explain how to
> unpack it
>
> 3. The best way is to maintain a network installation so that the
> users just mount it and everything is on proper places automatically.

Unfortunately (2) & (3) require skills that are not to be
found in every research group.  I would be pretty confident
that whilst most P/G TeX users in their 3rd year will
have created one or more modified style files to suit
the requirements of their Department, few if any will
have the slightest idea what TDS is.  The overlap
between the two skill sets {Hacking TeX source},
{Understanding TDS} is just nowhere near as great
as some people believe.  H at ll, I have been hacking
TeX source since 1986 (25 years), and I have /never/
read the TDS specification, nor would I claim more
than a passing awareness of (some of) its contents.

** Phil.