[twg-tds] scripts, enc/lig/map

[Karl Berry]

I've been pondering the assorted messages sent over the last 10 days or
so, and here is a revised version of the description of the proposed
scripts directory for the TDS.  I may move it to a separate section
before release, but for now the content is of course the important thing.

Thomas, have I accurately described the purpose and usage?

Paul, is the rationale clear?  (As for rationale in general,
that's what the "Is there a better way?" appendix is all about.)

Thanks,
k


\item[\path|scripts|]
for platform-independent executables such as Perl, Python, and shell
scripts, and Java class files.  Subdirectories under \path|scripts| are
package names.  

The intent is not for all such directories to be added to a user's
command search path, which would be quite impractical.  Rather, these
executables are for the benefit of wrapper scripts in whatever
executable directory a distribution may provide (which is not specified
by the \abbr{TDS}).  This eases creating distributions, by providing a
common place for such platform-independent programs.

We recommend using extensions specifying the language (such as
\path|.pl|, \path|.py|, \path|.sh|) on these files, to help uniquely
identify the name.  Since the programs in \path|scripts| are not
intended for users to invoke directly, this poses no inconvenience.

For example, in the \TeX\ Live distribution, the Con\TeX{}t user-level
program \path|texexec| can exist as a small wrapper script in each
\path|bin/|\replaceable{platform}\path|/texexec| (which is outside the
\path|texmf| tree), which merely calls
\path|texmf/scripts/context/perl/texexec.pl|.

Examples:
\begin{ttdisplay}
scripts/context/perl/texexec.pl
scripts/context/ruby/examplex.rb
scripts/thumbpdf/thumbpdf.pl
\end{ttdisplay}