ANN: Perl mktex* modules alpha release
After many utterances on the tex-k mailing list over a period of
several months, I am delighted to announce that I now have working
alpha release of the following:
TeX::Kpathsea - a Perl module to interface to libkpathsea
TeX::Kpsewhich - an object oriented or direct user-friendly
interface to TeX::Kpathsea
TeX::Mktex - support module for:
mktex{mf,tfm,pk} - Perl scripts which behave (almost) identically to
the /bin/sh versions, only run a bit faster
(As noted before on this list, these scripts are intended as
alternatives to the /bin/sh ones. The /bin/sh ones will continue to
be the primary scripts in the texk/teTeX distribution.)
At the moment, the main advantage is speed, and a few very minor
enhancements over the /bin/sh versions, but I intend to develop the
Perl versions to provide a more secure alternative (possibly at the
expense of some speed).
You can download the code from http://www.debian.org/~jdg. *Please*
make sure that you read the README file before you proceed. You will
require a working Perl 5.00x installation and teTeX 1.0.x or texk 7.3.1
(which can be found on the TeX Live 4 CD-ROM) with the /usr/include
headers and a libkpathsea library installed. (I've only tested this
on my Linux system. I don't know what it will do elsewhere.)
[I would create a Debian package from it, but I don't yet have access
to a machine with perl-5.005 installed (I'll upgrade my machine to
potato one day...). The code builds fine on my slink box (once I've
manually handled the dependencies), so I'll upload it to experimental
once I can compile it on potato.]
Enjoy!!
Julian
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Julian Gilbey, Dept of Maths, QMW, Univ. of London. J.D.Gilbey@qmw.ac.uk
Debian GNU/Linux Developer, see http://www.debian.org/~jdg
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