[tlbuild] asymptote build

[Karl Berry]

Hi John,

    I'd like to pass this user request on, regarding the suggested configure
    options for the Asymptote build in texlive:

    http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=3311559&forum_id=409349

All I can say is, we're doing the best we can.  If "phst" can provide
asy binaries that with the libraries statically linked and opengl
enabled on any of the dozen or so platforms we ship, then great, please
send them to me.  I don't argue that that would be a better way.

Otherwise, the choice is not between the full asy that phst wants and
the present suboptimal asy; it's between the full asy and no asy.  If
you prefer no asy in TL, after all our work, I won't say no, though it
would be depressing.  I think saying it is a "fork" is quite overstated.

I'd certainly prefer to compile it with OpenGL, at least, but it is not
trivial, since it entails a completely different set of build machines
than we normally use.  Also, there is a downside to it: the additional
shared libraries mean the binary will not run *at all* on older systems.

My understanding from you is that opengl is, while highly desirable,
only affects preview images for non-Adobe browsers.  That seems like a
far cry from making asymptote "severely limited".

Finally, I hope/expect many distros will package (or have already
packaged) asymptote with the full functionality enabled.  They have the
luxury of being able to assume the shared library situation.

I'd cc "phi (phst)" with this, but without an email address I'm not
going to go hunting -- sourceforge is far too slow and painful to work
with.  Feel free to forward this if you want.

Best,
karl