[tex-live] installing parallel (by year) versions

[Barbara Beeton]

ams tech-support has received an inquiry
to which the answer is "install the latest
version of xxx file"; said file is included
in tex live, but is not posted independently
on ctan, only in a .zip file or via .dtx/.ins.

on the possibility that the user is involved
in a large project that could be disrupted
by a total reinstall of tex live, i am about
to advise him that it's possible to install
parallel (by year) versions of tex live (if
space is available), and switch between them
as appropriate.  however, i'm not the person
to instruct him on *how* to set up such a
parallel installation.  (he's apparently on
a unix system, though whether it's shared
or individual, he hasn't said.)

i've checked the installation documentation
at tug.org/texlive and can't find anything
on this topic.  i thought it might be in
   http://tug.org/texlive/doc/texlive-en/texlive-en.html
in section 4, "specialized installations",
but it's not.  perhaps it's somewhere else,
section 7.1.5, "brace expansion", does mention
parallel structures, but it assumes they're
already set up.  the subsection "system-wide
root" in section 2.3, "overview of the
predefined texmf trees", but this too assumes
an existing setup.

i'll point the user to those sections, but
if he needs more help, i'm not sure where
to send him.  help, please?

adding a few sentences about setting up
multiple, parallel, year-specific structures
would be useful, i think.
                                                -- bb
________________________________
Barbara Beeton
Staff Specialist for Computer Typesetting Systems
Information Systems
Phone: +1 401.455.4000
Fax: +1 401.331.3842
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