uninstalling an old version

[Denis Bitouzé]

----- Mail original -----
> De: "Karl Berry" <karl at freefriends.org>
> À: tex-live at tug.org
> Envoyé: Lundi 16 Mars 2020 22:00:48
> Objet: Re: uninstalling an old version

>    a few words about symlinks and nothing is said on how to deal with
>    multiple TL installations with this option.
> 
> Thanks for the draft text. Sorry, but I don't want to add a lot of (or
> any) text now.  Maybe for 2021. --best, karl.

Since the main TeX Live documentation is not yet fully updated, I remind
you the discussion we had last year about symlinks:

  ┌────
  │ https://tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2020-March/045109.html
  └────

IMO, symlinks are the simpler method to install TL on Unix. So, in the
TL 2020's documentation, after:

  ┌────
  │ \item[create symlinks in standard directories:]
  │   This option (Unix only) bypasses the need to change environment
  │   variables. Without this option, \TL{} directories usually have to be
  │   added to \envname{PATH}, \envname{MANPATH} and \envname{INFOPATH}. You
  │   will need write permissions to the target directories.  This option is
  │   intended for accessing the \TeX\ system through directories that are
  │   already known to users, such as \dirname{/usr/local/bin}, which don't
  │   already contain any \TeX\ files.  Do not overwrite existing files on
  │   your system with this option, e.g., by specifying system directories.
  │   The safest and recommended approach is to leave the option unchecked.
  └────

here is what I added as translator note (roughly translated from
French): 

  ┌────
  │   \begin{description}
  │   \item [Translator's note.] The translator (Denis Bitouzé) on the
  │   contrary recommends this option: it greatly simplifies the
  │   installation process since it does not require the post-installation
  │   configurations of section~\ref{sec:env}. This method requires
  │   precautions only in the following cases.
  │     \begin{description}
  │     \item [Adding an executable:] after the \TL{} has been installed, it can
  │       be updated, for example by means of:
  │ \begin{alltt}
  │ > tlmgr update --self --all
  │ \end{alltt}
  │       The updated elements are most of the time packages and
  │       classes. They do not pose a problem, but it also happens that
  │       a new binary is added and, by default, it is not directly
  │       accessible to the system. For it to be accessible, it is necessary
  │       to update the symbolic links and, to do so, simply launch :
  │ \begin{alltt}
  │ > tlmgr path add
  │ \end{alltt}
  │     \item [Multiple Installations:] For example, suppose you keep
  │       the \TL{} 2019 next to the \TL{} 2020 in case a document which
  │       used to compile with the former doesn't compile anymore with the
  │       latter. To switch from 2020 to 2019, just run\footnote{Assuming
  │       that these \TL{} have been installed in the folder
  │       \dirname{/usr/local/texlive/}, subfolders respectively
  │   \dirname{2019} and \dirname{2020}.}: 
  │ \begin{alltt}
  │ /usr/local/texlive/2019/bin/x86_64-linux/tlmgr path add
  │ \end{alltt}
  │       then, to go back to the 2020s:
  │ \begin{\alltt}
  │ /usr/local/texlive/2020/bin/x86_64-linux/tlmgr path add
  │ \end{alltt}
  │     \item [Dead symbolic links:] following the installation of multiple
  │       \TL{}, some dead symbolic links may be found in the
  │       binaries folder (typically \dirname{/usr/local/bin}). For
  │       delete them, just run :
  │ \begin{alltt}
  │ > find /usr/local/bin -xtype l -delete
  │ \end{alltt}
  │     \end{description}
  └────

WDYT?
-- 
Denis