[tex-live] Re: URGENT!!

[Sebastian Rahtz]

On Wed, May 15, 2002 at 12:28:42PM -0600, Idris Samawi Hamid wrote:
> >Unless my memory is deeply flawed, TeX Live 6 carried version 
> >1.23? and this is the first time anyone has mentioned the problem!
> 
> TeXLive6 carried 1.15. 

yes, I was wrong, sorry.

> Also, This is _not_ the first time this has been mentioned. I specifically and publically asked John about this
> http://omega.cse.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/omega/2002-January/000047.html
> on behalf of all packagers back in January and John  was quite specific:

> "But this [1.23] is not a stable version" I thought then 
> that everyone got the hint and would stick with 1.15 
> till 1.25 was out. Boy was I wrong...

John also said "currently the official version is 1.23 ". clearly
you read that differently to me! I took as a license to distribute
1.23, you took it as "stick with 1.15".

> 
> >with respect, I suggest that using Omega for mission-critical
> >work is a very dangerous game to play....
> 
> 1.15 works quite reasonably, was released to stabilize the 1.1x series, 

you know more about this than me, I can see :-}

> and for what I need to get done it's the only game in town...

and no-one is forcing you to upgrade. if you don't want Omega 1.23 from
TL7, don't install it! its very easy to deselect it.


> As I said, TeXLive6 has 1.15, and how r we supposed to know 
> that TeXLive7 was going to carry 1.23??? 

agreed, you couldnt.

> 6. Revert to the TeXLive6 version. This is my vote. 
> I truly hope everyone will agree and vote for this:-)

um, you miss the point. yes, revert to the TL6 version, but its not
as simple as reverting one binary. I have to do it for all
architectures, and some architectures don't have 1.15 binaries. I have
to revert the source tree too, and then we have to check that the
architectures all still compile. I do NOT want to have binaries on the
CD which are not built from the source on the CD!

then there are the fixes to dvips made since last year - do we
distribute an odvips without them? ditto oxdvik. and we have to look
at the Omega font programs. and support files, to check they are
the same.

yes, all these things are trivial to do, but it's not something
one wants to hurry, in case it screws up more important things
in some way. 

I entirely take the point that it was probably me who screwed up
in reading John's mail in January as meaning that I should use 1.23.

How about someone installs all the binaries and support files for 1.15
from TL6 on the Omega web site, so that anyone can download them?

-- 
Sebastian Rahtz      OUCS Information Manager
13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431