Subject: Re: packages outside of /usr/pkg (was: Re: PROPOSAL: Move /usr/pkg/etc to /etc/pkg)
To: Richard Rauch <rauch@rice.edu>
From: Mark Davies <mark@mcs.vuw.ac.nz>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 05/26/2002 01:47:49
From: Richard Rauch <rauch@rice.edu>
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 15:49:42 -0500 (CDT)
> (Question: Do you have your X fonts in /var? If not, why the difference?
> Once you have the bitmaps of the TeX fonts generated, they become
> effectively permament parts of your system; they aren't transient unless
> you make a special effort to clean them out yourself from time to time.
> Just like X fonts, once the bitmaps are installed, they are there
> ``forever''.)
>
> (Similar question, if you have installed, or were to install, programs
> like KDE that have numerous little clipart-icons and sound effects: Do you
> want those to go in /var? If not, why not?)
The difference I see between the TeX fonts and the others is that the TeX
fonts are generated at some random time by some random user when they *use*
TeX rather than when a package is installed.
What I actually do in this case is have a local package that has the "common"
fonts pre-generated and these get installed in /usr/pkg/share/texmf/fonts/...
so /var/spool/texfonts only kicks in to play when someone uses a font or size
that isn't in the "common" set. So for our systems /usr/pkg is identical,
most have nothing in /var/spool/texfonts, and for those that do it tends to
only be 1 or 2 MB's.
cheers
mark