On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 08:45:45PM -0400, Scott Kostyshak wrote: > I'm interested in the experience of users who already added > -shell-escape to their converters and will be using the same preferences > file after they upgrade to LyX 2.3.x. When such a user compiles any .lyx > file, they will get the following message: > > The following LaTeX backend has been configured to allow execution > of external programs for any document: > > pdflatex -shell-escape $$i > > This is a dangerous configuration. Please, consider using the > support offered by LyX for allowing this privilege only to documents > that actually need it, instead. > > I think the warning is good for users who just changed the converter > because hopefully it will make sense to them and they will know what > "-shell-escape" means, and how they changed the converter (since they > just did it). But I'm worried about users who made the change months > ago. > > Ideally users would send us thank you cards with sparkles for adding > extra protection for them by giving this warning, but I have a feeling > that many will be confused and annoyed by this new warning that greets > them in LyX 2.3.x. First, I'm guessing there are some that added > shell-escape a long time ago following some guide and don't even know > what it is for. Second, I think we should explain further what solution > we're proposing. The following is verbose, but I think the extra words > are worth their weight: > > The following LaTeX backend has been configured to allow execution > of external programs for any document: > > pdflatex -shell-escape $$i > > Using the -shell-escape option is a dangerous configuration so LyX > 2.3.x now gives this warning and offers the option of using > -shell-escape only for documents that actually need it. To use this > feature, first remove the -shell-escape option from the global > converter by going to Preferences > file handling > converters, > removing "-shell-escape" from the corresponding converter, and > clicking on "Modify" and then "Save". Second, allow for > -shell-escape from a .lyx document that needs it by going to > Document > Settings > Formats, click on "Allow running external > programs", and then "OK". > > Any thoughts or alternative improvements?
Any thoughts? An alternative would be to put this information in the docs somewhere and just reference that section for more information. I'm fine with keeping the message as it is. I'm not good at predicting how users will react so I'm not confident in the changes I proposed and they might even make things more confusing. I really don't know. Scott
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