Package: tex-common
Version: 1.10
Severity: important
There have been numerous default-paper-size bugs reported. The
argument against fixing them seems to be along the lines of "The user
can figure it out." Well, yes, the user _can_, but the user can also
write a complete OS from scratch. Downloading something is _supposed_
to be easier than writing it from scratch BECAUSE downloaded programs
are supposed to do some of the standard work for you.
There is a comment in /usr/share/doc/tex-common/README.Debian that
says
The Debian TeX Live packages currently do not evaluate the
settings of `/etc/papersize', please set the paper geometry
explicitly in the (La)TeX source, e.g. using the packages
`geometry' or `hyperref'.
That is very poor behaviour. Here's why:
* TeX is designed to let you concentrate on what you're writing rather
than on layout. For this reason TeX has a very nice page-breaking
algorithm that handles layout for you so you don't have to worry
about where page breaks are, or what size paper you're using. The
Debian policy is counter to this philosophy.
* If I write all my documents and have to specify in each one what
size paper to use, and then I want to send them to a collaborator
who will be printing drafts on _her_ printer, and she lives
somewhere with a different paper size, then each of us will have to
modify the document back and forth, back and forth, at each
printing. Again, if I move to somewhere with a different paper
size, I should be able to set that systemwide and have everything
adjust, rather than modify every document I've ever written or had
sent to me.
* "There is no default; specify paper size per document" is stupid.
What about specifying a font size, weight, italics or not, duplex or
not, etc? Why have defaults at all? Why is it appropriate to have
a default font size but not to have a default paper size?
Here's the thing: the paper size I want to use will depend on the
printer to which my computer is connected, not on which document I am
printing. Therefore the setting should be per printer (or tray),
which is a bit complicated. However, since writing is compiled per
computer, a reasonable approximation is this: printers in the USA and
Canada use "letter", while printers in the civilised world use "a4".
So the default paper size can usually be safely set per printer
location, which is roughly per computer.
If you travel, you should be able to change ONE THING and have access
to all the local printers.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: lenny/sid
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.6.23.14 (PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Versions of packages tex-common depends on:
ii debconf 1.5.19 Debian configuration management sy
ii ucf 3.004 Update Configuration File: preserv
tex-common recommends no packages.
Versions of packages tetex-bin depends on:
ii texlive 2007-13 TeX Live: A decent selection of th
Versions of packages tetex-extra depends on:
ii tetex-bin 2007-13 TeX Live: teTeX transitional packa
ii texlive-bibtex-extra 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: Extra BibTeX styles
ii texlive-font-utils 2007.dfsg.1-2 TeX Live: TeX font-related program
ii texlive-fonts-extra 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: Extra fonts
ii texlive-lang-croatian 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Croatian
ii texlive-lang-cyrillic 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Cyrillic
ii texlive-lang-czechslovak 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Czech/Slovak
ii texlive-lang-danish 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Danish
ii texlive-lang-dutch 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Dutch
ii texlive-lang-finnish 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Finnish
ii texlive-lang-french 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: French
ii texlive-lang-german 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: German
ii texlive-lang-greek 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Greek typesetting
ii texlive-lang-hungarian 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Hungarian
ii texlive-lang-italian 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Italian
ii texlive-lang-latin 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Latin
ii texlive-lang-mongolian 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Mongolian
ii texlive-lang-norwegian 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Norwegian
ii texlive-lang-other 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Other hyphenation files
ii texlive-lang-polish 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Polish
ii texlive-lang-portuguese 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Portuguese
ii texlive-lang-spanish 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Spanish
ii texlive-lang-swedish 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Swedish
ii texlive-lang-vietnamese 2007.dfsg.3-1 TeX Live: Vietnamese
ii texlive-latex-extra 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: LaTeX supplementary pack
ii texlive-math-extra 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: Advanced math typesettin
ii texlive-pictures 2007-13 TeX Live: Packages for drawings gr
ii texlive-pstricks 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: PSTricks packages
ii texlive-publishers 2007.dfsg.1-1 TeX Live: Support for publishers
Versions of packages texlive-base depends on:
ii texlive-base-bin 2007.dfsg.1-2 TeX Live: Essential binaries
ii texlive-common 2007-13 TeX Live: Base component
ii texlive-doc-base 2007-3 TeX Live: Base documentation
-- debconf information:
tetex-base/olddat: true
tetex-base/fmtutil-failed:
tex-common/check_texmf_wrong:
tex-common/check_texmf_missing:
tetex-base/oldcfg: true
tetex-base/oldupdm:
tetex-base/updmap-failed:
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