[OS X TeX] Finally we are grown up

[Alain Schremmer]

Claus Gerhardt wrote:

> One should never try to reinvent the wheel. TeXLive is supported by 
> many knowledgeable people and maintained by Karl Berry working for 
> many platforms, working perfectly by my own experience.

Some two years ago, I tried fink and got completely screwed up. After I 
got TeXShop etc i-installed I got TeXLive along with the Companion2ed 
and I considered installing, just to see. I didn't even know where to start.

> Installation and configuration is superior to that offered by i- 
> Installer, requiring no command line skills,

I am certain I didn't use any command line when using i- Installer and 
for good reason: to this day I don't know how to use the terminal.

> a trained chimpanzee could do it. 

The conclusion is glaringly obvious: I am not even a chimpanzee.

> But Richard Koch will offer a one click install vehicle

Well, I sure hope so

> which is perfectly alright, I might use it myself.

If that isn't a patronizing statement …

> i-Installer, as I tried to explain in past messages, is for my taste 
> too patronizing, checking this and checking that, telling me what it 
> is unpacking, ..., and offering no customization in terms of install 
> folders or keeping old installations. In addition I am only getting 
> part of the cake, not the whole one, and most important, even a fairly 
> skilled tex literate, as I consider myself, feels as being treated 
> like a child who can only accept what is offered

Let me see: you must be the ultimate renaissance man. You get onto the 
operation table and you resent being treated as a child. Your car dies 
and you resent being treated as a child by the mechanic. Etc. As for 
myself, there are times when I need and want options and there are times 
when I am perfectly happy delegating.

> , and it all depended all on just one man, Gerben.

I don't think that this was Wierda's choice. As I understood it, he 
decided that he couldn't go it alone anymore.

> For most people no additional support will be necessary.

The point is that i-installer installed reliably while I could think 
about my work. From what I have read on this list, I dread and keep 
pushing back the time when I will have to install another TeX. I can and 
did get package from CTAN but this was adding to a working installation, 
not creating a whole new one.

What annoys me is that, just because Gerhart will have no trouble with 
TeXLive, he denies that anyone could have had any need for something 
like i-Installer.

This not-even-chimpanzee did/does have such a need because I was/am 
spending a huge fraction of my remaining time doing something else.

By the way: None of this ought to be construed as any kind of reproach 
to Wierda for putting an end to his work. As I think I already wrote, I 
was surprised he lasted that long alone.

Regards
--schremmer

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