[tex-live] strange discrepancy in running time of etex between TL2015 and TL2017

[Reinhard Kotucha]

On 2017-09-02 at 14:52:25 +0200, jfbu wrote:

 > [I don't know if really the TEXMFROOT is hard-coded
 > in the kpsewhich binary]

Hi Jean-François,
TEXMFROOT is defined in

  /usr/local/texlive/2017/texmf-dist/web2c/texmf.cnf

Its value is relative to the location of the binaries.  TeX Live sets

  TEXMFROOT = $SELFAUTOPARENT

because binaries are in .../bin/<platform> and Linux distributors set

  TEXMFROOT = $SELFAUTODIR

because they only support one platform.  The value of TEXMFROOT should
never be an absolute path, otherwise your TL installation isn't
portable anymore.

Kpathsea variables can be overwritten by environment variables.  Does
your environment overwrite TEXMFROOT?

Regards,
  Reinhard

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