[tex-live] minor problems with install-tl
Werner LEMBERG
wl at gnu.org
Tue Oct 28 15:13:03 CET 2008
> > During a train ride (with a slow internet connection which often
> > stalled because the mobile connection was changed again and again)
>
> On an Austrian train by chance?
No, in Germany (from Koblenz to Dortmund). I've used a data card from
a mobile phone company, not the WLAN of an ICE train.
> > . The script searched for a CTAN host and downloaded the database
> > before anything else. This is bad, since later on it continued
> > with text-only mode because perl-tk wasn't installed. Any reason
> > why the availability of perl-tk can't be checked immediately after
> > the start?
>
> There is absolutely *no* relation between these two things. Even if you
> immediately go into text mode it downloads the tlpdb first.
>
> I don't see your problem?
The problem is that the warning messages w.r.t. to Perl-Tk should
*immediately* appear after starting the script, before doing anything
else. IMHO, it's always a good idea to check the prerequisites, then
proceed. I've specifically asked for the GUI on the command line, and
the script should response to that request as soon as possible.
> > . Neither CTAN host searching nor downloading the database gets
> > announced in advance. With a bad connection it appears as if
> > the
>
> Well, if you want to install, then this database is needed,
> otherwise the installer *simply* cannot proceed, because all the
> information on what is available etc is in the database. There is
> *no* information whatsoever stored in the installer itself.
Of course. You've apparently completely misunderstood what I'm
complaining about.
> > program hangs. So please tell the user in advance what the
> > script is doing.
>
> Aehmm, why? The installer already tries first all possible to avoid
> a network connection. It checks for presence of the CD content (in
> archive/), then it checks for uncompressed files, and only if
> everything local did not succeed, it continues with the network
> installation.
If I start with -gui, I would like that a windows pops up immediately
(similar to, say, Emacs), and all future messages are echoed in that
window. It would be fully sufficient to have something like this:
> ./install-tl -gui
<a window pops up>
Searching CD...
not found
Searching uncompressed files...
not found
Searching host in internet...
found `foobar'
Downloading TeXLive repository database (this may take some time)...
Done.
...
IMHO such messages are essential; they should be emitted even if I
don't activate a debug switch (at least for -gui).
> > . Please add a status bar which shows how much of the database has
> > been downloaded. Ideally, with -gui, this should already happen
> > with a small GUI window.
>
> Impossible. Downloading is down by wget, so we cannot easily provide
> a statusbar.
OK.
Werner
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