[tex-live] tl doc formats

[David Kastrup]

Staszek Wawrykiewicz <staw at gust.org.pl> writes:

> On Fri, 8 Sep 2006, David Kastrup wrote:
>
>> TeXlive contains DVI viewers.  It does not contain PDF viewers.  So
>> I really don't understand how you gather that the users will be
>> able to view PDF without problems, but not DVI, if what they have
>> is a TeXlive DVD.
>
> Well, in practice, any pdf viewer is already available for the
> users.

Sure.  By magic.

> On the other hand, dvi previewers needs fonts to be installed
> (or proper .map files available for the run).

The last time I looked, a TeXlive system had fonts installed.  Whether
you run it from DVD or from disk.  We can rely on the set included in
a minimal TeXlive installation.

> We can find more examples, where DVI could make some problems.

Start by finding _one_ example.  We are talking about TeXlive.  And I
don't see how you can have a TeXlive installation without a minimal
set of fonts and a working DVI previewer either on hard disk or DVD.
Really.

>> > Eh, well, providing that *all* dvi viewers can accept source
>> > specials in the same manner (I've learned that "source specials"
>> > could be missuderdstood between different TeX distributions).
>> 
>> We are not talking about different TeX distributions here but about
>> TeXlive.  So we need only worry about the viewers in that.
>
> I'm not sure if "source special" is implemented for both previewers
> (like xdvi and windvi). As for Windows, we are going perhaps to
> switch to dviout, nobody knows at the moment, but let me try to be
> optimistic... Please keep in mind, that I'm still trying to ride
> both horses (Linux and Windows), but I feel more and more lonely...

Source specials don't jump out from the DVI file and attack the user
if they are not kept under control by the previewer.  They just get
ignored by a previewer that does not use them.

I really don't understand why you try bringing up Windows all of the
time.  It is a total red herring and has nothing to do whatsoever with
which format the documentation is in.

>> > Ps. David, I really like your effort to the TeX community (not to
>> > mention fine guitar playing and climbing the Bachotek hut :-),
>> > but would you please to stop any comments concerning Windows?
>> 
>> You lost me there.  Could you please point out where I would have
>> commented on Windows?
>
> Well, I'm so unhappy for that comment, but could you please 
> check your messages e.g. from June?

Is there a particular reason you bring it up at this time instead of
when it would have been relevant?

IIRC, I was not the one bringing up the OS debate, but rather someone
else was of the opinion that we should be bothered primarily to what
happens on Windows, the rest being unimportant.

I don't remember the details any more, and I don't think that it is
useful harping on three month old discussions.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum