[tex-live] Debian Packages of TeXlive

[Karl Berry]

    > Debian policy requires that all binaries are dynamically linked if a
    > shared library is available. 

TeX Live policy is to make binaries that work on a wide variety of
machines, since we cannot know what users will have installed.

Within the world of Debian, I understand you could depend on the
packages with those other libraries, and that's fine, I understand the
security argument perfectly.  But it's going to be up to people who care
about Debian to put in the time to make it work.  I guess it will mean a
separate set of binaries.  It's too bad effort has to be fragmented that way.

I'm not sure specifically which libraries are at issue; zlib comes to
mind, there must be others.  We don't build a shared kpathsea, but maybe
Debian does, I don't know.

     (tex-live needs a DVD, doesn't it?), 

In its compressed form, TL fits (barely) on a CD.  In its live form, it
is about 1.1gb.
http://tug.org/ftp/texlive/Images/

    Generally in TeXlive there should only be stuff which
    is Debian-compatible. 
    
The notable exception is that a few manuals are covered by the GFDL,
which debian-legal declared nonfree.

Regards,
karl