Bug#225833: Letter vs A4 again

[Greg Stark <gsstark@mit.edu>]

Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner@web.de> writes:

> IMHO this is a question of general LaTeX usage and in no way Debian
> specific. In addition, the UK TUG FAQ (aka TeX FAQ) that Norbert
> mentioned is actually in tetex-doc:

It's Debian specific in that while users of a freshly installed source compile
might realize that they have some configuration to do before TeX would know
what paper they use and might already be following some install document that
would describe this, Debian users expect packages to user /etc/papersize and
work automatically and won't have read any install document before installing
the package.

So while a user that installs from source also has to do this configuration
it's no detour from the rest of their installation. Debian users are at a
complete loss. They just typed "apt-get install tetex" and they're left with a
broken package and no idea where to go from there.

The install messages don't say anything about tetexconfig-sys. It doesn't
document that tetex doesn't obey /etc/papersize. Neither does the man page
point them towards this FAQ or any other documentation. It just leaves them
hanging with no idea where to go from there.

-- 
greg