[EXT] pretest 2021 begin

[Philip Taylor]

Karl Berry wrote:


I think the pretest area is populated with the first build
for TL 2021. See https://tug.org/texlive/pretest.html as usual for
details of how to install (unchanged from previous years)


Just to note that the following recommendation/instruction from https://tug.org/texlive/pretest.html is incredibly dangerous :

rsync -a --delete --exclude="mactex*" somemirror::/some/path/ /your/local/dir

Not being fully awake, I launched CMD but failed to change directory from C:\Windows\System32 to C:\TeX\Live\2021\Pre-test, and as a result, "rsync" attempted to delete everything in (and under) C:\Windows\System32.  Fortunately I was operating as my normal self, not as system administrator, and as far as I can see the command therefore had no deleterious side-effects.  However, in the light of this experience it would seem to me that a far safer incantation should be recommended.  Is there a variant of

rsync -a --delete --exclude="mactex*" somemirror::/some/path/ /your/local/dir

that will report if the current directory is not empty, and either abort unconditionally or, at the very least, await confirmation from the user that he/she realises that everything in and under the current directory is about to be deleted and is happy with this ?
--
Philip Taylor


This email, its contents and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. In certain circumstances, it may also be subject to legal privilege. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. If you have received this email in error, please notify us and immediately and permanently delete it. Any views or opinions expressed in personal emails are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Royal Holloway, University of London. It is your responsibility to ensure that this email and any attachments are virus free.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/attachments/20210226/1d225636/attachment-0001.html>