Abdelrazak Younes wrote:
Jean-Marc Lasgouttes wrote:
"Abdelrazak" == Abdelrazak Younes
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Abdelrazak> Timothy Reaves wrote:
That's a bug. Perhaps it'll be removed from the menu before 1.5 is
finished, or not. But I'd really encourage incorporation of such a
management feature BEFORE 1.5 is considered finished. Yes, as a
software edveloper myself, I realize it's a bit late in the 1.5svn
process, but I'd still recommend it.
Abdelrazak> JMarc, is this what your patch (isRequired/isNeeded) is
Abdelrazak> about? It not, I agree it would be better to disable the
Abdelrazak> menu item if the package in question is missing.
No, but we have a isAvailable method somewhere that can be used to
know what packages are there.
I know next to nothing about this stuff unfortunately. But I think it
would be a good thing to check for availability instead of generating
unreadable LateX errors...
Any taker?
Abdel.
A lot of the responders are missing the point, and are holding to their
'if I can figures it out, so should anyone else' mentality. Many people
have mentioned relying on their OS'es package management system. Oh,
wait, only the UNIX variants have them. Windows and OS X do not. So,
LaTeX and LyX are only for Linux users. Gotcha!
There are things that try and act like package management systems on
both Windows and Mac, and none of them work very well. I won't argue
that point here (just see above is this thread for the comment on
MiKTeX, and the various issues with the several different Mac systems on
offer).
If there were some 'official' TeX package management system, ported to
the different platforms, I'd see some of the detractors points. And I'm
not saying LyX users should be forced to use a LyX package management
system. I'm saying it's needed for more wide-spread adoption. Perhaps
that's no ones goal, and I understand that too.
Mac's have a wonderful setup of ~/Library/Application Support where
such files could be downloaded. On Windows, there is the users (seldom
used for much) home directory. On UNIX, there is the ubiquitous '.'
directories in ~. Most LyX users are just going to want these files
installed, and wouldn't be using them outside of LyX.
Again, perhaps wide spread adoption isn't a goal; but if it is, why do
you think so many people would try LyX, and give it up after a few hours
to go back to OpenOffice? People want to USE their computers, not play
with them configuring them correctly for use (which is why it's one of
the most important usability guidelines). Try not to forget that.
