[tex-live] TeXLive update issues

[Robin Fairbairns]

Helge Blischke <HelgeBlischke at web.de> wrote:

> different mirrors sometimes have quite different revision states.
> There should be some synchonizing means.

all (public) tex live mirrors are (a fortiori) also ctan mirrors.  the
ctan mirror monitor samples and reports the status of mirrors; a mirror
that is more than 24 hours behind the central servers should be
rejected.  such a mirror will be deleted from the ctan mirror switcher
(mirror.ctan.org) and should not pollute downloads.

so synchronisation is achieved by any update making it to any ctan
mirror within 24 hours of its installation.

having said which, real world issues will intervene in this perfect
setup.  by spending much more money on bandwidth and servers to support
it, the situation could be made better.

the tex community doesn't have that sort of money (not to mention money
needed to pay people to monitor the situation well enough to respond
timely to problems).

Robin Fairbairns

For the CTAN team