[tex-live] Deployment of TL 2018 (on multiple computers): release or updated?

[Lars Madsen]

We usually ask the students to copy the tlnet folder to their harddisk and then pass on the USB. But copying loads and loads of small files are super slow in windows so that copying takes about 10-20min and then comes then installation.

We tried zipping the TL tree such that is it is only one file to copy, which is faster, but takes just as long time to unzip in Windows.

Sometimes, my cloning script is just faster to use, but I haven't touch that script in years. (then you'd only need to unzip a file tree and run a script afterwards, still takes time)

/Lars Madsen
Institut for Matematik / Department of Mathematics
Aarhus Universitet / Aarhus University
Mere info: http://au.dk/daleif@math / More information: http://au.dk/en/daleif@math


________________________________________
From: Denis Bitouzé <denis.bitouze at univ-littoral.fr>
Sent: 09 May 2018 16:42
To: Lars Madsen
Cc: Denis Bitouzé; Norbert Preining; tex-live at tug.org
Subject: Re: [tex-live] Deployment of TL 2018 (on multiple computers):  release or updated?

Le 09/05/18 à 14h21, Lars Madsen a écrit :

> You mentioned the ISO on USB, have you considered rsyncing the tlnet
> tree to the USB instead?

Yes but see below.

> Granted, this takes a while for updating the USB, but then the
> students will not be that far behind in updates when they install from
> the USB.

Indeed but the same happens with an `.iso' file built with a rsynced
tlnet tree.

> One disadvantage: On Windows: installing TL from the tlnet folder on
> the USB is rather slow (Mac and Linux runs 10-100 times faster from
> USB than windows for some reason).

So could be completely unusable: a student of mine tried yesterday to
install from the `.iso' file he mounted on its Windows 10 machine and
the evaluated time to achieve the installation oscillated between 40 and
50... hours!

My experience is that it is much more faster for the students to:

1. just copy the (huge but monolithic) `.iso' file from my USB stick,
2. mount the `.iso' file (on Windows, possibly with the help of
   WinCDEmu: http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/),
3. install from the mounted file (on Linux, usually about 15 minutes;
   on Windows, much longer: usually between 30 minutes and 2 hours,
   sometimes 5 hours :$ and, hopefully, the case above is an exception),

than to install directly from the tlnet tree located on the USB stick.

Moreover, I usually own less USB sticks than students and, just after
a student copied the `.iso' file, (s)he can give the USB stick to
another one.

> BTW: Once I have a new TLx on my USBs, I update them with rsync from
> my master on my linux box, that is rather fast.

Indeed, I guess so.
--
Denis