Re: [tex-live] _very_ slow TeX compilation :(

[Robin Fairbairns <Robin.Fairbairns@cl.cam.ac.uk>]

patrick_@freenet.de wrote:

> I just discovered that on my recent debian lenny workstation the
> compilation of any TeX file (either tex->pdf or tex->dvi) takes about
> ~20-30 seconds. 
> 
> I am really curious on what to look at since even when trying to
> compile it manually on a console (I used kile before) it takes ages. 

one of my users came with a similar complaint.

he had redone his TEXINPUTS something like

  export TEXINPUTS=~/mytexinputs//:

and his ~/mytexinputs directory was large and didn't have a ls-R file.

this wouldn't have mattered (nearly as much) if it was on local disc,
but here all such files are accessed via nfs to our central file store.

web2c lookups over nfs are notoriously slow; if you're using nfs you
*have* to have a tds-structured tree and an ls-R file.

robin