[OS X TeX] Re: TeXShop Feature Request

[Alain Schremmer]

On Jun 1, 2010, at 5:37 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:

> Once you get down to BasicTeX you don't save much space by removing  
> those few binaries and some packages. Also the person who only  
> wants to compile a tex file may, in fact, need xelatex to do that  
> compile and tlmgr does NOT, at this time, allow you to add binaries.

As far as that goes, you are right of course. There are two issues,  
though.

a) If the LaTeX-illiterate person finds out about "MetaFont, dvips,  
ConTeXt, MetaPost, and XeTeX", s/he might faint. I would have.

b) The way I would see MiniTeX is for the LaTeX-illiterate person to  
see it as just an application: upon downloading it and starting it s/ 
he sees a dialog box:

	To run stuff    	   o
	To write stuff            o
	To write math          o

--- Upon checking "To run stuff", the dialog box goes away but the  
LaTeX installation is now there for Ross Moore, in his fictitious  
persona, to use to run these wonderful ancillaries and thus be able  
to teach that Math 100 from that incredible text he found on  
freemathtexts.
--- Upon checking "To write stuff", XeTeX will henceforth come up  
when starting MiniTeX
--- Upon checking "To write math", TeXShop will henceforth come up  
when starting MiniTeX

Regards
--schremmer