[OS X TeX] [MacTeX] TEXMFHOME uneasy to reach

[Stephanie Evert]

And since you seem to have already managed to get them to type commands in a terminal session, why not just tell them to enter

	open ~/Library/texmf

Best,
Stephanie

> On 3 Jun 2022, at 19:49, Richard Koch <koch at uoregon.edu> wrote:
> 
> Denis,
> 
> Apple hides the ~/Library directory in Finder. However, it is where all cofiguration data for a user is stored and thus is the correct spot for TEXMFHOME.
> 
> If you press the Option key while accessing the Finder's Go menu, a new item is added to the menu taking you to ~/Library. It is also possible to add ~/Library to the location list in the first column of the Finder's window. I don't know what front end your students use, but TeXShop also has a menu item to take you to ~/Library/TeXShop and thus to ~/Library.
> 
> Dick Koch
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jun 3, 2022, at 10:29 AM, Denis Bitouzé <denis.bitouze at univ-littoral.fr> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I just finished a LaTeX course given to some PhD students.
>> 
>> After MacTeX was installed on some of their Mac computers, we tried to
>> get to their TEXMFHOME to put their bib files in the subdirectories:
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ $TEXMFHOME/bibtex/bib
>> └────
>> 
>> I asked them to check what MacTeX considered their TEXMFHOME with the
>> following command run in a terminal:
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ kpsewhich --var-value TEXMFHOME
>> └────
>> 
>> and, as expected, it was:
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ /Users/⟨User name⟩/Library/texmf
>> └────
>> 
>> The problem is, when they wanted to reach `/Users/⟨User name⟩/Library/`
>> with the Finder in order to create the ((sub)sub)directories
>> `texmf/bibtex/bib`, they first went to `/Users/⟨User name⟩` but, once
>> there, the `Library` subdirectory was not displayed, even though it does
>> exist as can be easily verified with the command :
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ ls /Users/⟨User name⟩/Library
>> └────
>> 
>> Well, it is still possible to create the necessary subdirectories with the
>> command:
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ mkdir -p /Users/⟨User name⟩/Library/texmf/bibtex/bib
>> └────
>> 
>> but this is well beyond the scope of average users, especially LaTeX
>> beginners.
>> 
>> Finally, in order for them to be able to visit their TEXMFHOME with the
>> Finder, I resorted to the trick:
>> 
>> ┌────
>> │ tlmgr conf texmf TEXMFHOME "~/Library/texmf:~/texmf"
>> └────
>> 
>> and used `~/texmf`, but this is a too complicated solution, even for
>> average users.
>> 
>> Maybe MacTeX (or TeX Live?) should consider another location for the
>> TEXMFHOME directory, e.g. `~/texmf` as it is the case for GNU/Linux and
>> for Windows.
>> 
>> Thanks for your attention.
>> -- 
>> Denis
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> 
> ----------- Please Consult the Following Before Posting -----------
> TeX FAQ: http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
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