Bug#482631: Failed to configure

[Frank Küster <frank@debian.org>]

retitle 482631 please explain possible need to reinstall packages in NEWS.Debian
clone 482631 -1
reassign -1 texlive-common
thanks

Hi Matt,

Matt Kraai <kraai@ftbfs.org> wrote:

>> ! I can't find file `modes'.
>> l.3 \input modes
>>                 
>> Please type another input file name: 
>> ! Emergency stop.
>> l.3 \input modes
>>                 
>> Transcript written on mf.log.
>> Error: `mf-nowin -ini  -jobname=mf -progname=mf -translate-file=cp227.tcx mf.ini' failed
>
> texlive-base appears to contain /usr/share/texlive-base/modes.mf and
> /etc/texmf/metafont/misc/modes.mf, but the latter wasn't present on my
> system.  Once I reinstalled texlive-base, texlive-base-bin configured
> successfully.

That was due to an old bug related to the teTeX-TeXLive-transition. It
is already fixed both in the sense that those files will no longer be
removed, and in the other sense that they will automatically be
resurrected when you reinstall the package. There's nothing more we can
do. 

Oh, there is: texlive-base-bin and texlive-common contain NEWS.Debian
entries on this issue, but they are not complete. They explain what will
happen to those rare guys who deliberately removed those files (which
requires much hacking, normally it just leads to the type of errors you
encountered). But it does not talk to the people with the much more
frequent problem of "how do I get my system to work".

I'll try to come up with a text and put it into those files.

Thanks for reporting, Frank

-- 
Frank Küster
Debian Developer (teTeX/TeXLive)