New TeXLive Install Package

[Karl Berry]

    One (probably stupid) question: couldn't all those
    formats be included pre-compiled so that they just need to be
    copied, or are they all really installation-dependant? 

Interesting idea, not stupid at all. But in terms of installation
choices, they're dependent on the paper size and the list of languages,
at least. (Also the TeX code, of course.)

So to reliably pregenerate formats, we'd have to record all necessary
info and then see if the present installation matches.  That sounds
quite error-prone, and a lot of work. I admit I don't want to go there
to work around a problem that's only on one platform, and only under
circumstances and has several workarounds. Especially since the root
cause is Apple imposing an arbitrary limit, not anything in the TeX world.

Best,
Karl