Stephen P. Harris wrote:
I read this description from an authoritative source (tug.org) and your
opinion is quite incoherent and inexperienced when compared to it.
I'm afraid we differ on various points from time to time.
The TeX Collection is self-described as having progressed to the point
"that comprehensive began to become incomprehensible". That is a
polite way of saying it had become a mess.
Correct. That's why they rationalised it while changing from TeX Live
to TeX Collection.
It is no wonder that tetex
would have received a lower priority. You also single out RedHat.
Purely because it's the OS that we have most non-Windows users on here.
Which of the many distros that using rpms or .deb have decided
they have the time to incorporate the endless stream of upgrades in
a system that in its entirety encompasses 6gigs?
None, and I'm certainly not arguing that they should.
Now in 2004, quite a few fundamental changes are made. And
2004 was released as a less perfected product than 2003. I don't
mean that the fundamental changes were a mistake or that a lot
of rough edges can be avoided in such a transition. But certainly
you are not going to find a bunch of Linux distros jumping onto
the bandwagon. They are not going to devote a large portion of
their release to TeX, nor many man-hours to fixing TeX.
Nor should they. The TC distro works as it stands: no "fixing" is
needed. All RH (or whoever maintains the RH tetex RPMs on their
behalf) needed to do was take whichever size installation they
wanted to make into an RPM -- the smallest, if need be -- and do it.
Instead, for some unfathomable reason, they appeared to have picked
bits and pieces from different releases and cobbled them together.
I will install the current version that came on the FC4 ISOs again
and check it out, as I have no wish to do them an injustice if this
problem has been recently fixed.
The idea that
the distros should do this, is undereducated and inexperienced.
I have never suggested that the makers of Linux distros should do
anything of this nature, only that Red Hat's distribution of tetex
has been out of date for years (modulo whatever is available with
RHEL4 and FC4 now -- as I just said).
You speak of having users and dispensing TeX advice for 20 years.
I'm afraid so.
SH: You've certainly done a good job in establishing your unique
qualifications for your sweeping pronouncements.
If you're referring to my ignorance of the .lyx directory, my query
was based only on the implicit assumption in the OP's message that
I should already have one.
///Peter
