MacTeX is poorly handled by AppFresh / iusethis
"MacTeX" is poorly handled by AppFresh and needs some special treatment due to its specific nature.
http://osx.iusethis.com/app/mactex
MacTeX is an installer that :
- installs a "TeX distribution", ie a set of files (bins and others) in the /usr/local/texlive/ directory. (MacTeX additionally installs some freeware apps which are otherwise individually listed as apps in iusethis, so this works ok and hasn't to be dealt with in the problem I am submitting.)
Each version of MacTeX installs a given version of the TeX distribution : eg. MacTeX-2008.mpkg installs the "TeXlive 2008 distribution". So you can't find a "MacTeX.app" with plist file to check the version.
Since AppFresh cannot find such a dir, AppFresh lists "MacTeX" as "In your profile, but not installed on this Mac" and... downloads again the 1.4 GB mpkg, even though MacTeX 2008 is already installed !
Checking new releases of MacTeX by "I use this" is just as important as checking new releases of a usual app. And MacTeX is a unique install in the TeX world, which deserves being advertised in iusethis.
One solution might come from the fact that MacTeX offers a canal through which the system can check whether a TeX distribution has been installed or not. This canal for instance is visualized by the TeXDistPrefPane.
http://osx.iusethis.com/app/mactex
MacTeX is an installer that :
- installs a "TeX distribution", ie a set of files (bins and others) in the /usr/local/texlive/ directory. (MacTeX additionally installs some freeware apps which are otherwise individually listed as apps in iusethis, so this works ok and hasn't to be dealt with in the problem I am submitting.)
Each version of MacTeX installs a given version of the TeX distribution : eg. MacTeX-2008.mpkg installs the "TeXlive 2008 distribution". So you can't find a "MacTeX.app" with plist file to check the version.
Since AppFresh cannot find such a dir, AppFresh lists "MacTeX" as "In your profile, but not installed on this Mac" and... downloads again the 1.4 GB mpkg, even though MacTeX 2008 is already installed !
Checking new releases of MacTeX by "I use this" is just as important as checking new releases of a usual app. And MacTeX is a unique install in the TeX world, which deserves being advertised in iusethis.
One solution might come from the fact that MacTeX offers a canal through which the system can check whether a TeX distribution has been installed or not. This canal for instance is visualized by the TeXDistPrefPane.
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Inappropriate?This is indeed a very special problem, and we'll have to deal with it in some way. I won't promise anything for AppFresh 1.0, though.
I’m undecided
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