Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 17:48:43 -0500 (CDT) From: Jay Nelson <jdn@acp.qiv.com> To: Nik Clayton <nik@nothing-going-on.demon.co.uk> Cc: Andreas Klemm <andreas@klemm.gtn.com>, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Sorry, found it explained during jadetex installation Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9905301716470.8861-100000@acp.qiv.com> In-Reply-To: <19990530225816.C24788@catkin.nothing-going-on.org>
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On Sun, 30 May 1999, Nik Clayton wrote: [snip] >I was planning a 10 liner that parsed texmf.cnf, pulled out the >appropriate values for the configuration, checked to see if they were >>= the recommended minimums, and updated them (possibly with a warning >first) if they were less than necessary. At the outer limits, tuning TeX for the large projects can get hairy. If the script asked for confirmation before making changes, I don't see a problem. There is an 8MB limit to the total memory allocated, and I've bumped into that before -- so an arbitrary changing of values would would be somewhat unhappy. If the script included the caveat "recommended" with the suggested changes, then those new to TeX could do the "right thing" yet those who understood the ramifications could opt out. I'm not opposed to the change. It would save a lot of questions. But modifying teTeX's tunables without some flag would, I think, be contrary to encouraging experienced users to contribute. If you raise the flags, though, you're back to the "read the screen" problem. I didn't find the warning that you currently have in place that easy to miss. >All this would be part of the docproj port rather than the teTeX port, >so it's assumed the user does want to use teTeX with the Doc. Proj. True -- but if I use TeX for production and want to explore the possibilities of the doc project, an ill considered changing of values in my TeX configuration would shoot me in the foot. >> Your suggestion seems like a mexican standoff. On one hand you're >> proposing to modify configurations automatically because some people >> don't read the screens. On the other, people who don't expect that >> behavior may not read the screens either -- so about all you >> accomplish is pissing off a different group of people. Maybe this is >> acceptable. >> >> Nik, if you attempt this, will there be a heads-up notice? > >If the relationship between the variables is that complex, I'll just add >a post-install message to textproc/docproj reminding them to check the >pkg/MESSAGE file for textproc/jadetex and make changes as necessary. > >Thoughts? The configuration is only tedious at the outer limits. -- and sometimes tuned to the project at hand. I don't see any problem if there is an opt-out optiion to the install. Those who understand and have tuned are more than capable of opting out and tuning later. Those who don't, can accept the recommendations and move on -- with a cooresponding reduction in problem reports. I do have to admit, though, my meager perl talents aren't up to this task. I think what you have in place is fine. I saw it and found that I had to make several passes to balance what the doc project required vs. what I required to make everything work. I'd be upset if that was changed "automagically." All in all -- it's not a bad idea. Just be sure you can correctly understand the user's environment and give them the option of opting out. (Frankly, Nik, I don't see anything wrong with what you already have in place. It's a nice balance between new and experienced users -- and I think you've achieved the balance.) It ain't broke;) -- Jay To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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