References: <98111015254411@man.ac.uk>
            <199811101633.QAA07366@lurgmhor.elsevier.co.uk>
Message-ID:  <199811101656.QAA29932@nag.co.uk>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
In-Reply-To:  <199811101633.QAA07366@lurgmhor.elsevier.co.uk> (message from
              Sebastian Rahtz on Tue, 10 Nov 1998 16:33:35 GMT)
Date:         Tue, 10 Nov 1998 16:56:36 GMT
From: David Carlisle <davidc@NAG.CO.UK>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
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To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L
              <LATEX-L@URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Subject:      Re: What is "base" LaTeX
Status: R

Sebastian writes
  this is the whole point of the argument, surely?! to get the contrib
  stuff OUT of that state,

Having followed Michael's url and read this treatise on religious or
secular program development I'm confused.

You seem to be asking for a change from the current model to a linux
style `bazaar' model. But I thought that was what we had now?

The core latex code is essentially stable apart from fixing the
occasional more or less obscure bug that comes up. All new development
work (on latex2) is in classes and packages, which means that
principally it is `bazaar style' and happening in contrib.

As in the linux model where you have some distrution like redhat or
debian that periodically scoops up a set of tools and makes a
distribution out of it the same happens for latex.

The point is though that _you_ do it with texlive it is not done
by the latex3 project (who I suppose are supposed to be doing Linus
impersonations in this model).

> and into a mode where everyone knows that
>   "natbib" is part of "latex level 2".

So is all that's needed is a note sent to the tex implementers list
saying `please include all the files that are installed by the texlive
`recommended' option?

I suspect that that is _not_ what is needed, people, including people
claiming they want to fight in a bazaar really want a set of files that
gets official blessing. To do blessings you need a cathedral (a fount
may help as well).

> but our bishops dont have the resources to maintain the fabric;

which is where we came in....

David