This small patch (which is just a proof of concept) tests whether a TeX installation accepts spaces in file names.
In my teTeX 2.0.2 here, I get (somewhere in the output of lib/configure): checking whether TeX allows spaces in file names... no Normally, users of modern TeXs (using web2c 7.5.3) should see 'yes' as answer here. I'd be glad to see some testing. Next step is adding lyxrc variables and actually use them. JMarc