tds: Adoption of the TDS
B.1 Adoption of the TDS
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[This section is retained for historical purposes; the TDS is now quite
firmly entrenched in most TeX distributions.]
We recognize that adoption of the TDS will not be immediate or
universal. Most TeX administrators will not be inclined to make the
final switch until:
* Clear and demonstrable benefits can be shown for the TDS.
* TDS-compliant versions of all key programs are available in
ported, well-tested forms.
* A "settling" period has taken place, to flush out problems. The
public release of the first draft of this document was the first
step in this process.
Consequently, most of the first trials of the TDS will be made by
members of the TDS committee and/or developers of TeX-related software.
This has already taken place during the course of our deliberations
(see Appendix ⇒Related references for a sample tree available
electronically). They will certainly result in the production of a
substantial number of TDS-compliant packages. Indeed, the teTeX and
TeX Live distributions are TDS-compliant and in use now at many sites.
Once installable forms of key TDS-compliant packages are more
widespread, some TeX administrators will set up TDS-compliant trees,
possibly in parallel to existing production directories. This testing
will likely flush out problems that were not obvious in the confined
settings of the developers' sites; for example, it should help to
resolve system and package dependencies, package interdependencies, and
other details not addressed by this TDS version.
After most of the dust has settled, hopefully even conservative TeX
administrators will begin to adopt the TDS. Eventually, most TeX sites
will have adopted the common structure, and most packages will be
readily available in TDS-compliant form.
We believe that this process will occur relatively quickly. The TDS
committee spans a wide range of interests in the TeX community.
Consequently, we believe that most of the key issues involved in
defining a workable TDS definition have been covered, often in detail.
TeX developers have been consulted about implementation issues, and
have been trying out the TDS arrangement. Thus, we hope for few
surprises as implementations mature.
Finally, there are several (current or prospective) publishers of TeX
CD-ROMs. These publishers are highly motivated to work out details of
TDS implementation, and their products will provide inexpensive and
convenient ways for experimentally-minded TeX administrators to
experiment with the TDS.
Info Catalog
tds: Implementation issues
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