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Author Does a minimal version of TeX/MF exist? Problems compiling TeX/MF
Rodericus

2006-05-30, 7:18 pm

I wanted only to have Metafont with X (The default in Tetex is
without). I tried to compile tetex,
my FreeBSD-Box complained because a header file for pdftex (that I
didnt want) was not there,
Then tried to compile web2c and it complained that latex (that I dont
want) was older than one
year and twice a year there is a new latex.I think only for this reason
I will stop using latex: While
TeX is convergent (to pi), latex is diverging producing twice a year
something new. It was also
not possible to compile web2c with --prefix=/usr/opt: it doesnt find
/usr/opt/share/texmf that I
put.

Do someone know what does Knuth do for compiling his program that
changed 2004? Is he
using a VAX with Berkeley Pascal till today? I tried once to compile
it: imposible with new
versions of pascal.

Regards
Rodericus

Robin Fairbairns

2006-05-30, 7:18 pm

"Rodericus" <scire@web.de> writes:
>I wanted only to have Metafont with X (The default in Tetex is
>without). I tried to compile tetex,
>my FreeBSD-Box complained because a header file for pdftex (that I
>didnt want) was not there,


for example, in configure:

--without-pdftex don't compile and install pdfTeX
--without-pdfetex don't compile and install pdfeTeX
--without-pdfxtex don't compile and install pdfxTeX

there are probably others you might be attracted to.

./configure --help

>Then tried to compile web2c and it complained that latex (that I dont
>want) was older than one
>year and twice a year there is a new latex.


tosh. web2c is no more than a component nowadays; it hasn't been a
satisfactory distribution to build for years (>10, at least), and that
part of it is inevitably out of date.

>I think only for this reason
>I will stop using latex: While
>TeX is convergent (to pi), latex is diverging producing twice a year
>something new.


tex may be tending to the limit pi, but it's not converging.

latex's progress is likewise rather small: if you have a version that
complains about being too old, it's telling you the wrong things
anyway (we certainly don't release every 6 months any more -- there's
not enough change to warrant more than every two years or more). get
a current version, or (better) go back to building tetex.

or forget about latex.

>It was also
>not possible to compile web2c with --prefix=/usr/opt: it doesnt find
>/usr/opt/share/texmf that I
>put.
>
>Do someone know what does Knuth do for compiling his program that
>changed 2004? Is he
>using a VAX with Berkeley Pascal till today?


iirc knuth has his own pascal->c processor.

>I tried once to compile
>it: imposible with new
>versions of pascal.


wouldn't know about that (haven't used pascal since the early '80s),
but it's known to be impossible without an appropriate change file.
--
Robin Fairbairns, Cambridge
Rodericus

2006-05-30, 7:18 pm

Thanks! I have just read the first commentaries of tex source file, it
seems it is "easy" to automatically translate it to C, it is for the
purpose of translating it a simplified pascal, for example procedures
do not define local procedures. In any case it would be nice to have
Knuths own "Pascal to C preprocessor": Is it not public? What about his
literate programming with web? No public program?

Rodericus

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