latex/tetex-update (Was: Re: #debian-tetex is not exactly hopping....)

["C.M. Connelly" <c@eskimo.com>]

I started writing this message this morning, then got caught up
with other things (such as writing a mail archiving script from
scratch).  Atsuhito's last message says most everything here, but
I might have a slightly different take on things, so I'll send it
anyway.

I see two questions in this thread:

   1. Why update LaTeX (base/required/etc.)?

   2. Why update other LaTeX packages?

I'll take the second one first, because the benefits there are the
most obvious.

Users report bugs against LaTeX packages in tetex-base and
tetex-extra that turn out, after some research, to be fixed in
some later version of the package that is available on CTAN.  I
also see new packages and new releases of old packages that
include new or improved features announced almost everyday on
CTAN-ANN.

Replacing broken packages with newer packages from CTAN is a win
because we can both close bugs and make our users happy.

Adding new packages or new versions of packages with improved
functionality is also a win because we can make our users happy,
but less important than fixing known problems.

As for updating the core LaTeX, I think there are a couple of
different points that can be made in favor of doing so:

First, the latest available version of LaTeX -- June, 2000 --
included the following changes:

   * A new PSNFSS

      * Includes mathpple (Palatino math support)
      * Fixes numerous flaws and bugs
      * Cleaned up distribution
      * Completely rewritten documentation
      * Removes support for commercial fonts

   * New input encoding latin4

      * Allows easy typesetting of Baltic and Scandinavian
        languages as well as Greenland Inuit and Lappish

(It also included a bunch of experimental code that we're
apparently not allowed to distribute (we should check to make sure
we haven't been!), and AMS LaTeX 2.0, which is included in our
teTeX packages.)

So, if you happen to be running Debian and want to typeset
documents in Baltic, Scandinavian languages, Greenland Inuit, or
Lappish, or if you wanted to use Palatino to typeset math, last
year's release of LaTeX would be useful.

I'm not clear on exactly what the next release (due to be released
on June 1, 2001, *ahem*) will include, but at the least it will
have PSNFSS 8.2, which might bring some useful improvements.  (I'm
looking into this question.)

Atsuhito made some other good points: Inexperienced users who find
themselves having to rebuild formats will freak when they see the
warning about LaTeX being too old.  It's to our advantage to nip
any bug reports about that problem in the bud.

And some people just want to have the latest and greatest thing,
whether they need it or not.  If we can provide that without too
much effort, we'll make them happy.

Anyway, I want to send this message now, so I'll stop.  In short:
providing a tetex-update and/or a latex-update package would be a
good thing, IMHO.

   Claire

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   C.M. Connelly               c@eskimo.com                   SHC, DS
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