[tex-live] Problem with pax.win32

Philip Taylor P.Taylor at Rhul.Ac.Uk
Mon Mar 31 11:42:11 CEST 2014



Reinhard Kotucha wrote:

> Phil, this discussion is wasted time anyway because it's still
> unclear what we gain.  Does Active Perl provide the missing packages
> or not? Unless there is an answer to this question the whole
> discussion is absolutely useless.

As I wrote earlier, I neither have a comprensive list of the Perl
scripts included with TeX Live nor do I have a regression test
script that could test whether all function as require under
Active Perl.

> There are technical problems too, BTW.  An external Perl is visible
> to the rest of the system but there are at least two Perl
> distributions available for Windows.  If people already use Perl for
> other projects then we have to allow them to use the distribution of
> their choice.

Of course.  If the installer detects an existing Perl installation,
it should ask the user what to do.

> An important feature of the "hidden" Perl shipped with TeX Live is
> that it doesn't interfere with any other Perl distribution already
> installed on the system.  We can't provide anything else because we
> can't make sure that we don't break anything.
>
> Is it so difficult for Windows users to install Perl on Windows
> themselves?

No, it is very easy, in my experience at least.  But that is not
the point; if TeX Live is to include Perl scripts, then it is
by no means unreasonable to suggest that it should also include a
Perl interpreter that can run those scripts

> Phil, we had this boring discussion about the word "free" many times
> in the past.

And yet Zdeněk misunderstood.

> Please try to understand that if we want to make TeX Live as useful
> as possible for everybody, we have to consider the freedom of users
> in the first place.  Martin's statement is misleading because it
> contains the words "we want" though actually we have no other
> choice.

/Why/ "have we no other choice", Reinhard ?

Norbert Preining wrote:

> Then you can also cater for all the W*** foobar rubbish you praise so
> much.

When a lead TeX Live developer is so dismissive of the most popular
series of operating systems in the world, it is of little suprise
that suggestions to make TeX Live better for users of Microsoft
Windows receive so little support and generate so much antagonism.

> Can we please end this rubbish discussion.

Willingly.  I already proposed that much earlier in the thread,
but others continued the discussion and made points that
required a response.

** Phil.




More information about the tex-live mailing list