[tex-live] How to maintain Omega

[Sebastian Rahtz]

On Mon, May 27, 2002 at 03:05:16AM +0430, Roozbeh Pournader wrote:
> these days. Having someone update these, will be a huge burden, also since 
> there is not always only a single copy of a file in the three.

I don't recommend even trying, it will drive you mad!

> So I was thinking about keeping just a small tree, and somehow defining
> which are the parts that Omega people should maintain and the parts that
> TeXLive people should

I don't see that Omega needs to maintain anything except
  texmf/omega
  texmf/fonts/*/public/omega
 
 and (in source)
  texk/web2c/omegadir

I'd strongly suggest the rest of the texmf tree in the CVS be wiped.
UNLESS anyone is prepared to maintain TeX Live from the Omega
site, which is a possibility. But that would be a big deal for 
someone to take on. I am afraid that I do not much fancy switching
from the Perforce-based system in Europe, just for the sake of Omega.

This is not the first time we have had this discussion, about
a common site to maintain The Master TeX source and texmf trees in.
As it stands, we have (at least):

 - TeX Live (inf fpTeX) and teTeX; broadly in sync, but maintained separately.
    currently this works because Thomas communicates with people doing
    TeXlive in an exceptionally civilised way.
 
 - web2c. Olaf maintains this master source of part of the system
    at a slower pace, quite rightly, and does not get involved
    in packaging TeX systems
 
 - Omega. a mysterious place.....

 - MikTeX. I don't know how Christian keeps himself up to date.
    I have never had any communication with him
 
 - the commercial folk. so far as one can tell, they don't ever
    update their TeX systems these days, and they have commercial
    closed-source drivers anyway
 
 - the semi-commercial Mac folk (CMacTeX and OzTeX). I don't
    know the extent to which they keep up

 - CTAN. its own world, doing a different job from useable texmf trees

I do not see anyone with the strength of will and the resources
to rescue the situation, but I am willing to believe that it
can be done.

does this correspond with other people's assessment?
-- 
Sebastian Rahtz      OUCS Information Manager
13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431