[tex-live] TEXMFHOME when using install-tl on a Mac

[Richard Koch]

Folks,

On Oct 6, 2011, at 3:51 PM, Karl Berry wrote:

>    We can in *principle* set the installer up that when it is running
>    on Mac it selects ~/Library/texmf as TEXMFHOME and maybe the other
>    changes, too.
> 
> I don't like it.  I think the defaults in install-tl should not depend
> on the current platform. 

The current TeX Live install script is very straightforward. When I first used
it several years ago, I was surprised at the lack of “geeky questions” and
lengthy explanations. “Platform specific” changes are likely to make it
harder to use and harder to maintain. Thus I tend to agree with Karl that
the defaults shouldn’t be changed.

Perhaps Herb can write a short explanation on the MacTeX site telling
users how to reconfigure TeX Live if they install with the TeX Live script
and later discover that Mac folks use different default values for TEXMFHOME
and the other two variables.

Dick Koch