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

[Robin Fairbairns]

Barbara Beeton <bnb at ams.org> wrote:

> 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.

this is the normal way.  .dtx (usually but not exclusively with a .ins)
was designed for distributing packages.  ctan will reject derived files
(when we notice them), since the .dtx (or whatever) holds all that's
needed.

> 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.)

here, sledgehammer ... a nice nut for you.

> 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.

is the user actually using tex live?

what is wrong with putting the generated file in the user's ~/texmf/....

i have long assumed that 2 tex setups on the same machine were the
sign of an eccentric geek.  and of people like me (a pretty small
class, and not geeky at all ... oh no).

> adding a few sentences about setting up
> multiple, parallel, year-specific structures
> would be useful, i think.

fwiw, i would *never* recommend a second installation on a machine.  i
do it myself, but there are rather few of my behaviours that i would
recommend to anyone else.

robin