[ On Fri, September 25, 1998 at 10:40:33 (-0400), Todd Vierling wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: texinfo files 
>
> Then you would install gtexinfo in /usr/local, as if info weren't part of
> the main distribution.  It's still not difficult, and zero more difficult
> that it already would have been without any parts of texinfo in the base
> system.

If someone's going to install a binary TeX meant for some other platform
then it's equally possible that person will be incapable of installing
gtexinfo, and incapable of understanding why they should have to --
after all it's supposedly already part of the base operating system.  I
doubt they'll be willing to accept the fact that the version in the base
system is incomplete.  *I'm* unwilling to accept the possibility that a
package included in base system will be incomplete.

As I said, this "work around" is extremely inelegant.  All kinds of
version skew problems will result too.

> It doesn't matter:  it's (unwritten) policy not to ship nonfunctional
> software with the base; if there are dependencies, either the dependencies
> must be in the base, or the given programs are not shipped.

Adding a stub script includes the depdency in the base.  It's an
elegant, perfectly legitimate, and widely accepted solution to this
problem.

-- 
							Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098      VE3TCP      <gwoods@acm.org>      <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>; Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>