[tex-live] [texhax] amsmath update - any changes?

[George N. White III]

On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 7:04 AM, Victor Ivrii <vivrii at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 5:46 AM, Robin Fairbairns
> <Robin.Fairbairns at cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>> Victor Ivrii <vivrii at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> And if I want to find why elsevier was removed today how I can find it
>>> out (no, I do not want to know WHY, I want to know HOW CAN I LEARN
>>> WHY)

TL generally follows the recommendation of package authors.  It would be a huge
task to provide a complete database of author-driven changes.   In my view the
priority should be to implement author-driven changes, but it is also
nice to give
notice of changes that may be "surprising".   When TL implements a change
from a major publisher that was announced some time ago, the people who use
the package (e.g., who publish in one of the affected journals) should not be
surprised.  The fact that many authors read the "instructions to
authors" no more
than once is not something TL can solve.

>> you learn why by waiting for me to get around to announcing our reasons.
>>
>> i've other important things to do ... like earning a living.

It is all to easy for TeX users to become overly reliant on packagers when they
should be reading the "instructions to authors" at publisher's sites.

>>
>> robin
>>
>
> Robin, now I see that
>
> http://tug.ctan.org/cgi-bin/ctanPackageInformation.py?id=elsevier
>
> it was removed from CTAN (not just from TL) and it looks to be
> replaced(?) by elsarticle
>
> However my question was not about this particular class. After Khaled
> pointed out how one can access in svn changed classes/packages in TL
> and realize what has been changed, the natural question is if there
> are any resources showing removal of packages (except tlmgr.log on my
> computer).
>
> Any sysadmin would not be very happy to have a couple of users
> screaming "bloody murder! what did you do with my favourite
> package!!!!" without knowing the answer "Elsevier pulled it off and
> replaced by elsarticle".

Yes -- it comes with the job.   My first response in such cases is that
TL is usually reliable about tracking changes from upstream and look
to upstream for the changes that have become visible in TL.   In cases
where there is real need for the old package (e.g., article originally prepared
using the old package and undergoing minor revisions prior to publication)
I would suggest installing the package outside TL to reduce changes that
others may use it and encounter problems down the road.

-- 
George N. White III <aa056 at chebucto.ns.ca>
Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia