Re: Help with configuration order
Norbert Preining <preining@logic.at> wrote:
> Hi Frank!
>
> On Fre, 23 Dez 2005, Frank Küster wrote:
>> > Now the fun begins:
>> > . all the packages are unpacked
>> > also the list file in /var/lib/tex-common/... is installed (it is
>> > *not* a config file, so it is immediately present!)
>>
>> Just to remind me: Why does cyrtexinfo need this magic comment trick at
>> all? Usually fmtutil just skipt formats for which there is an entry in
>> fmtutil.cnf, but no ini file.
>
> There is cyrtxinf.ini in texlive-lang-cyrillic.
Ah, right, forgot that: it's also in tetex-base.
>> > THere are several ideas for solving this problem:
>> > . ignore, the basic lib (libx11 or jpeg) is normally installed. if one
>> > installs texinfo, then they will be there anyway
>>
>> Furthermore, it only happens if 50cyrtexinfo.cnf is changed (the comment
>> sign is removed), and thus only affects systems where texinfo once was
>> already installed and configured.
>
> No, it is completely *independent* of 50cyrtexinfo.cnf. I am speaking
> about the texlive-base-bin fmt.d config file, which includes the lines
> for metafont (mf)!
Then wouldn't the solution be to run "fmtutil-sys --byfmt cyrtexinfo"
instead of "fmtutil-sys --missing"? You'd have to check for the "no
information for format `cyrtexinfo'" message, and not give an error in
this case.
>> An other option would be to make mf-nowin the normal mf executable; err,
>> no - why is this binary linked against all those libraries? libX11,
>> libXrender for sure seem unnecessary; I have no idea what libpng12,
>> libjpeg are good for in metafont (but then I never use metafont myself,
>> it just creates fonts automatically)
>
> Hmm. Making mf-nowin the default for mf is not a good idea since there
> are font developers who want to see the mf output on screen, and there
> is a good reason for this.
We should use an alternatives system, anyway.
> Coming back to the original problem: I don't see why this should have
> anything to do with cyrtexinfo, it is only about the *order* of
> configuring packages, and the fact that while the fmt.d files are config
> files, the list files are not.
When we're talking about order, the obvious solution would be a
dependency (of texinfo on the respective bin package), but that we do
not want (texinfo is supposed to be installable without a TeX system).
Making the list files configuration files looks like a cludge to me:
They are *not* meant to be edited by system administrators to change
program's behavior, they are exclusively package metadata.
Therefore I think the clean solution would be to change texinfo's
postinst script not to require a binary that is not yet configured.
Either by calling fmtutil-sys with --byfmt (thus limiting the
half-breakage to the rare cases where texinfo was installed, cyrtexinfo
enabled, and texinfo *and* the libs removed afterwards). Or by
explicitly checking for the libs, or nicely catching the errors (like
grepping for library errors in a tempfile).
Regards, Frank
--
Frank Küster
Inst. f. Biochemie der Univ. Zürich
Debian Developer
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