[OS X TeX] OS X TeX newbie needs help installing TeX on non-boot volume

[Gerben Wierda]

On Sep 10, 2005, at 16:00, Peter Dyballa wrote:

>
> Am 10.09.2005 um 14:41 schrieb Rowland McDonnell:
>
>> What I'd like to do is install everything I need on a volume other 
>> than
>> the boot volume (I keep all added software and user data off my boot
>> volume for safety's sake - at least, in those cases where I can work 
>> out
>> how to do this safely).  I've read the documentation I can find and
>> can't work out how to do this.
>>
>
> I think there is nowhere a place to change the location where 
> i-Installer installs teTeX ...

Except for setting the "Install location". To make it even better, if 
that Install Location does not require administrator rights you can 
install TeX without admin rights. So TeX is relocatable. Even if you 
install in /usr/local/teTeX and then move //usr/local/teTeX elsewhere 
it will work.

But many other i-Packages are not relocatable. Sometimes the software 
has hard coded dependencies and needs to be in a location which is 
defined at compile time.

> I can think of two things that might do the job -- and they might be 
> combined.
>
> 1. Set an environment variable TEXMF in ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist 
> that points to a teTeX 'root' directory on the other volume. Log off 
> and log in again, maybe as the owner of the TeX software, so that the 
> setting becomes valid. If i-Installer follows the usual guide lines it 
> will read $TEXMF's value and install TeX there. If not: next try.


This is a dangerous and non-functional suggestion. As a generic 
software installer i-Installer knows nothing of TEXMF settings and 
won't follow them. Using environment.plist is a trick I would generally 
advise against.

G

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