[OS X TeX] TLU broke my symlink

[Herbert Schulz]

On Jun 7, 2010, at 12:39 PM, Justin C. Walker wrote:

> Following up...
> 
> On Jun 7, 2010, at 05:22 , Richard Koch wrote:
> 
>> The symbolic link /usr/texbin is created when MacTeX is installed. It points to a hidden folder in the TeX Distribution Data structure. On Intel, it points to
>> 
>> 	../Library/TeX/Distributions/.DefaultTeX/Contents/Programs/i386
>> 
>> But actually, Contents is also a link, which is changed when a TeX Distribution is set to active.  This links points to the data structure for the active distribution. In this indirect way, /usr/texbin points to the location of Intel binaries in the active distribution.
>> 
>> If it is pointing to opt/..., then the distribution believes that Macports has the active distribution.
> 
> *After* I discovered the "opt" symlink, I opened the TeX pref panel.  When it opened it displayed the 4 distributions I have installed (TL2008, TL2009, TL2010, MacPorts).  Then it did a little jig and suddenly there was only one (MacPorts).
> 
> So: it's possible I did something (e.g., brought the metal plate in my head too close to my system) to provoke it, but I don't think the pref panel was the culprit.
> 
> Am I correct in assuming that the pref panel caches the state of the distributions, displays it on the next startup, and after that, verifies the setup?
> 
> If not, then I'm really confused.
> 
> Justin

Howdy,

This sounds as though /Library/TeX/ is broken. Not sure how you fix that.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)