>>>>> "Giuseppe" == Giuseppe Ghib� <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> Recently a friend of mine had a problem (not RedHat specific).
>> He installed all the packages except context. The problem is
>> that if you
> which distro?
SuSE.
>> use LaTeX and Metapost, you need at least two files which are
>> part of context.
> what are such files? In Mandrake context was splitten to
context/base/supp-pdf.tex
context/base/supp-mis.tex
supp-pdf is an interpreter for the small subset of PostScript
operators used by metapost. If these files exist, then they are
loaded by the graphics driver. In this case you can load metapost
output files directly by \includegraphics if their extension is
changed to .mps.
If they do not exist, you get an "Undefined control sequence" error.
> tetex-context reduce the number of dependencies. E.g. context
> was having scripts which were requiring perl-Tk.
Yes, but even if you don't have Perl, Perl/Tk, X installed, you can at
least use parts of context. You can, for instance, create the mptopdf
format file (you need the files in texmf/context) using fmtutil.
Then it is possible to convert metapost output files to pdf:
pdfetex -progname=context -efmt=mptopdf \\relax file.ps
> I agree with you that a huge tetex package is better than
> smaller ones, but often tetex packages in a distro are splitten
> into smaller package units to reduce the number of package
> dependencies, so to let for instance users also have a minimal
> installation.
The dependencies you talk about concern executable files like texexec
or texdoctk or previewers. Most files in the texmf tree do not depend
on externel libraries.
In this case it's better to leave the texmf tree untouched.
> For instance in tetex there is also
> "mf-nowin". You may wonder what is needed for since there is
> already mf. "mf" is the binary version where output in proof
> mode is also shown in a graphical window, and is linked against
> X11 libraries. Having a basic tetex package containing mf-nowin
> and not mf, would help for instance to reduce the number of
> dependencies: e.g. you may install a basic tetex without
> install all the X11 and X11 libraries.
Yes, but in this case you would have a package containing a single
file (mf). What I mean is that if you split the texmf tree you will
have to deal with dependencies inside this tree. And this requires a
deep knowledge.
> Or for instance consider
> the case where one not really uses tetex because he doesn't even
> know what is, but for instance he is compiling a program which,
> for building documentation, needs pdftex and texinfo. He could
> install only a basic subset without having to install
> everything.
texinfo is an exception because it is small. It is not difficult to
find out which files are needed.
Until now we discussed the problem from the viewpoint of a package
maintainer. From the viewpoint of a user you have to deal with other
problems.
For me it is absolutely important that I can give files to other
people. Then I say "you need tetex and perl".
I assume that the user has a book about LaTeX, my scripts use some
packages from Context and I cannot assume that he knows what Context
is. It would be too much information for someone who never used LaTeX
and Linux before.
Some package tools ask whether the user is an expert or not. If he
pretends to be an expert he is asked for each teTeX package, if not,
he is asked whether he wants to install the complete teTeX or not.
I think that this is a good thing. There should always be an option
to install teTeX completely.
Regards,
Reinhard
--
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Reinhard Kotucha Phone: +49-511-4592165
Marschnerstr. 25
D-30167 Hannover mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Microsoft isn't the answer. Microsoft is the question, and the answer is NO.
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