[tex-live] Sorting out updmap/updmap-sys-troubles

[Zdenek Wagner]

2012/5/23 Ulrike Fischer <news3 at nililand.de>:
> Am Wed, 23 May 2012 07:40:44 +0900 schrieb Norbert Preining:
>
>>> one recurrent problem with font installation is caused by mixed
>>> calls of updmap and updmap-sys (or on miktex of updmap / updmap
>>> --admin).
>
> [...]
>
>> Please take a look at the first lines of an updmap-sys call to see
>> which updmap.cfg files are read.
>
> Well I'm a miktex user. I don't have TeXLive. I can't look myself
> ;-). That's why I asked.
>
> Thanks for the informations (also to Reinhard). I will read them and
> try to assemble from them some "repair instructions".
>
>
> But I already found a following question: While reading in the
> installation instructions of TeXLive 2011 I found this sentence:
>
> "You do not need to be root (administrator on Windows) to install,
> use, or manage TeX Live. In fact, we recommend installing it as a
> normal user,..."
>
> If the default installation is as normal user, why do the users have
> to bother with updmap-sys at all? On miktex with a single-user
> installation in a restricted account you only have to (can) use
> updmap.
>
I am not a Windows user but I can explain what I do on Linux. I select
a normal user (usually me) who will be responsible for TeX Live
maintanance. I ask "root" to create /usr/local/texlive and change the
ownership so that the TL maintainer has write access. I ask the root
to add /usr/local/texlive/current/$platform to the beginning of PATH

Now suppose I install TL 2011 to /usr/local/texlive/2011. After
installation I do:

cd /usr/local/texlive
ln -s 2011 current

Since now TL works for all users and I can update it by tlmgr without
the need to be a root

Later I install TL 2012 to /usr/local/texlive/2012. When I think it is
time to switch from 2011 to 2012, I do the following:

cd /usr/local/texlive
rm current
ln -s 2012 current

Everything is thus switched from 2011 to 2012 and users need not do
anything, not even restart their terminals.

I use this approach on several computers, even on those where I am not
root and am not allowed to use sudo. I even do not copy the fontconfig
file as explained in the documentatin but symlink it using the
"current" symlink. Relinking the TL thus automatically updates
fontconfing (with a small delay).

Of course it is still possible use a different TL version if it is
still installed. I have a Tcl/Tk script that finds all versions and
allows to switch between them (for the current shell) in GUI.
>
> --
> Ulrike Fischer
>



-- 
Zdeněk Wagner
http://hroch486.icpf.cas.cz/wagner/
http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz