Texlive old install support

[Joseph Wright]

On 14/04/2020 01:45, Warren MacEvoy wrote:
> I am trying to maintain a docker container (like a small virtual machine with specific software0 so TexLive users can make a specific container that reliably and efficiently can be used to make their latex documents.
> 
> A real problem is that each year I have to move to the latest tex live distribution; which inevitably breaks the building of documents based on older packages.
> 
> Philosophically, this is a serious problem.  There are many old documents which will require expert intervention to create if the build tools move this much every year, and the old tools do not work.
> 
> I tried downloading an archive build and got a failed installation on a checksum.
> 
> Reliably building old documents should be a priority for the texlive system.  Otherwise a love of creative intellectual property will become unstable.
> 
> Can there be a long term maintenance policy for some versions of texlive?  Leaving an archive to 3rd parties does not seem reasonable, especially if those builds just fail after one year…
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Warren MacEvoy

If you want to use a TeX Live version longer-term, what's the issue with 
installing the historic ones from ISO? The TeX Live people mainly just 
install other people's (La)TeX packages: actual binary changes are a 
small part of the total work done.

I have TeX Live from 2009 onward installed on my own PC, which with 
today's disk sizes is quite achievable: I'm not sure there is an big 
issue there. (People like AMS who need absolute stability archive every 
part of the build setup with every file, but that's an extreme approach.)

Joseph