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

[Zdenek Wagner]

2013/5/13 Barbara Beeton <bnb at ams.org>:
> thanks to robin and zdenek for information.
>
> re different practice of ctan and tex live,
> i said,
>     >> [...] said file is included
>     >> in tex live, but is not posted independently
>     >> on ctan, only in a .zip file or via .dtx/.ins.
>
> and robin answered,
>     > 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.
>
> yes, i know; to avoid having to explain to
> (often new) users how to "unbundle" a .dtx
> file, ams also distributes a tds-packaged
> .zip file with instructions on how to install
> it.  and sometimes we still get questions
> about those details and have to supply the
> .cls file separately with the recommendation
> to just put it in the directory where the
> current job is being run.
>
> tex live is so much easier!
>
> regarding the present question, here's what
> the user provided as documentation on the
> version he was using:
>
>   ' /usr/share/texmf-texlive/tex/latex/amscls/amsart.cls
>   Document Class: amsart 2004/08/06 v2.20 '
>
> very informative!  (i wish all users were as
> helpful!)  clearly unix of some flavor, of
> a vintage no more recent than 2009.
>
> but really, some users do say they've been
> working on a book for n (>=5) years, and it's
> clear that updating the whole of tex live
> could throw a monkey wrench into those efforts.
> just replacing graphicx or xypic or hyperref
> would wreak havoc.  so keeping the "original"
> set of required files makes sense, as does
> using newer versions for new documents.  so
> multiple parallel versions also makes sense
> (sorry, robin).  unfortunately, the reported
> location of the texlive directory for this
> case doesn't include a year, so introducing
> a parallel setup requires more than just
> renaming the main texmf-texlive tree and
> installing a new one beside it.
>
This does not seem to be TeX Live from TUG. Both Debian and Redhat
repackage TL and provide it as their own packages installed in
/usr/share. In such a case parallel versions cannot be installed by
system tools. However, it is still possible to install TeX Live from
TUG and set the PATH in such a way that TUG's TeX Live is found first.

> i've recommended to this user to get the
> amscls.zip file from the ams server, and
> following the instructions that will serve
> to install it in place of the existing amscls
> material in an old tex live tree; oops -- i
> forgot to suggest that he save the old files
> somewhere else, but in this case, since there
> have been no "significant" updates since 2004
> (other than the specific thing he asked about),
> that should be safe.  (i still don't like to
> do that though.  could give someone bad ideas
> w.r.t other packages that wouldn't be so safe.)
>
> robin, again:
>     > 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).
>
> okay, so i'm an eccentric geek.  similarly
> ams, though production sites are by definition
> operating under different contstraints.  i
> still thing that
>     >> adding a few sentences about setting up
>     >> multiple, parallel, year-specific structures
>     >> would be useful, [...]
>
> from zdenek,
>
>     It is very easy. Each version is installed in its own directory, as
>     default in /usr/local/texlive/YYYY where YYYY is the year. In order to
>     switch to another version it is sufficient to modify PATH.
>     /usr/local/texlive/YYYY/bin/ARCH must be at the beginning of PATH. I
>     have a script written in bash + tcl/tk that offers installed versions
>     and can change PATH in the current xterm. I can send you the script.
>
> ams has such scripts as well, but we're not in
> a position to support them if someone we might
> send them to has problems.  (thanks anyway.)
>
>     In addition, my PATH contains /usr/local/texlive/current/bin/ARCH
>     where /usr/local/texlive/current is a symlink to a version that I want
>     to use (cuttently 2012). When I decide that 2013 is stable enough, I
>     will just change the symlink and all xterms will use it immediatelly.
>
>     I have all versions since 2007 although I do not use them but
>     sometimes it is useful to see how things worked in previous versions.
>
> and sometimes it's not only useful, but necessary,
> to use previous versions of not only the packages,
> but the binaries, as in the case where an article
> published 15 or more years ago is being resuscitated
> for republication in a "collected works" volume.
>
>     > 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.
>
> why, robin!  i've always thought of you as a
> reliable (if sometimes eccentric) model.
>
> thanks to all.  i still hope some additions to
> the documentation are worth consideration.
> (and offer to read them to make sure they make
> sense.)
>                                                 -- bb



--
Zdeněk Wagner
http://hroch486.icpf.cas.cz/wagner/
http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz