[tex-live] REVTeX4.1 update in preparation

[Arthur Ogawa]

This is a heads-up to the effect that the REVTe4 package for LaTeX is  
currently under revision and will be issued (insofar as schedules can  
assure one) in September 2008. The released version will be REVTeX4.1.

As part of this work, I am working to make the packaging up of REVTeX  
as straightforward as possible for the sake of folks like yourselves.  
In that connection, let me provide you with our current scheme, for  
your review.

As for REVTeX4, the package is entirely free; the source and all  
derived files are marked with the LPPL.

The distribution is in the form of an archive revtex4-1.zip, with its  
primary point of distribution http://publish.aps.org/revtex. Of course  
we will also submit for inclusion in CTAN, where REVTeX4.1 is expected  
to supersede REVTeX4.

Unzipping revtex4-1.zip produces a directory revtex4.1 with the  
following contents:

revtex4.1/
     README     - a nice readme file with manifest, installation  
instructions, and provenance
     DOWNLOAD   - pretty much a copy of a portion of the README; I do  
not know why we include it
     texmf.zip  - an image of the texmf tree that REVTeX4.1 occupies

The installation instructions say to execute a command like:

# unzip texmf.zip -d /usr/local/texlive/texmf-local
# mktexlsr /usr/local/texlive/texmf-local

where  choice of target directory is up to the administrator doing the  
install.

This installation procedure is similar in most respects to that  
promoted by the TeX Live team on your web page http://www.tug.org/texlive/pkgcontrib.html 
, but with some differences:

* the two-layered .zip archive. This was done to avoid unzipping the  
README and DOWNLOAD files into the texmf tree. The only alternative I  
know about would involve piping into and out of tar; the present  
scheme seems simpler.

* our .dtx files follow the clever model of Heiko Oberdiek in the  
sense that there is no need for either a .ins nor a .drv file. To  
effectively run the .ins, you type, e.g.,

tex revtex4.dtx

and to effectively typeset the .drv, you type

[pdf]latex revtex4.dtx

therefore we have removed the .ins and .drv files entirely.

Do you think this a poor idea? Since you will not have to run the  
sausage maker, I thought it would not negatively impact the packaging  
activities of the TeX Live team, and anyone wishing to gen the files  
or the documentation themselves will read the README or the head of  
the .dtx.

* our arrangement of files in the texmf tree is different in minor  
ways from that adopted by the TeX Live team in the (dim) past. We are  
hoping you will simply follow our lead in the matter. In particular,  
we use a small private package docs.sty in typesetting our  
documentation; it was never our intention to inflict this private  
package on the TeX users of the world, so it now lives in doc/.

It is my hope that the latest REVTeX4 release will make your lives  
easier. Let us know if you see us heading off in the wrong direction.

Arthur Ogawa/TeX Consultants