Re: /usr/bin/env texlua no such file or directory; ~/context/tex is not a valid TEXROOT path; no file plain.tex

[Hans Hagen via ntg-context <ntg-context@ntg.nl>]

On 4/11/2023 1:58 AM, Carlos via ntg-context wrote:
> I'm just following some of the standalone installation instructions
> as per the wiki alongside  a TeX Live installation,  but there are a
> few things that don't add up or I can't seem to add them up :).
> 
> first, while I was trying to mtxrun --generate it returned
> 
> /usr/bin/env texlua no such file or directory
> 
> So I thought heck, perhaps by creating a symbolic link we'll call it
> a day, but that wasn't enough, nope.

That # line will go away or change because per 2023 we assume that the 
script is run by luametatex and we're in a sort of transition

> This is is circa 21st century ladies and gentlemen!

And tex survived more that 4 decades so ... it operates in an eco system 
(tds, installations) ... todays fashion is not yesterdays and tomorrows

> so I thought, alright, since there seems ot be a a problem with texlua,
> let's also add it to path somehow.

i'm not sure what you installed but the stand alone installer installs 
luametatex / luatex and therefore has

luametatex
mtxrun -> luametatex
context -> luametatex
mtxrun.lua
context.lua

in the same path (the links are stubs, not uncommon in the tex world 
where they are also used to launch macro packages like latex)

it can't be more portable and simple than that, is efficient and works 
ok unless one wants some different setup, and spend time on that

> So with that out of the way, we'll move on to the next step and change
> to a directory and try to call out mtxrun --generate again
> 
> It returns:

 > ...

> But this is the catch. I don't have texmfcnf.lua anymore . Not on
> the TeX Live installation anyway if that might've ever materialize
> as a question

maybe that was not copied? the fact that we need a configuration and 
file database is also pretty much the way a tex installation works (with 
allits resources)

> If I were to invoke an mtxrun --script cache --erase
> Of course and going solely by the above the part whenever it says
> resolvers       | resolving | looking for regular 'texmfcnf.lua'
> on given path '/home/ce/context/bin/texmf/web2c' from specification
> 'selfautoloc:/texmf/web2c'
> 
> wont' find it anywhere because that dir does not exist.

should be there with the installer; if one just installs the 'zip' it 
has to come from elsewhere (like texlive, where actually most lives in 
texmf-dist) and one has to copy a configuration file to there

> But remember that earlier, adding bin to path was necessary to avoid
> /usr/bin/env texlua no such file or directory message
> 
> But even now while trying to find plain.tex I've come to the conclusion
> that it needs it or else fails altogether
> 
> The problem is that I don't have plain.tex though.
> 
> As a matter of fact the TeX Live installation I currently have,
> plain tex is nowhere to be seen, heck, not even latex but only a
> handful set of fmtutil fmtuitl-sys mktexfmt and updmap updmap-sys
> and the whole remainder of kpathsea but then again this in practice
> would not even be needed if at all.

indeed, context doesn't rely on fmtutil etc

> In other words, only the TeX Live infrastructure needed which shouldn't
> be a problem, right?
> 
> But itis: a problem that is.
> 
> Besides. The reason I mentioned it is only to serve reference material
> , but that's it.
> 
> to recap, mtxrun looks for a texmfcnf.lua (which I don't have) and
> also for a plain.tex which I don't have either, and also presumably
> for a contextcnf.lua (which I have) but the script concept is not so
> smart, and finishes off with a final note that says warning: no lua
> configuration files found. No shit Sherlock!
> 
> Of course it can't find it, because it doesn't exist,
> 
> resolvers       | resolving | looking for fallback 'contextcnf.lua' on
> given path '/home/ce/texmf/web2c' from specification 'home:texmf/web2c'
> 
> But at this point and without sugar coating it, the standalone
> installation of context proves to be a chore more problematic than
> waiting to install over 5gb of TeX Live alone.

hm, worked for quite a while for users; and did you try oen from

https://www.pragma-ade.com/install.htm

> The only thing that the installation instructions got right from
> the start was the part about running the script with all modules.
> 
> I'll probably… and eventually will try to install the whole TeX
> Live. But going solely by what the current TeX Live on my machine
> looks like, , with just the infrastcucture, while anything mtx was
> dropped like a hot potato really, it's a predicament...

not sure what you mean here .. mtxrun was not dropped, tl 2313 just 
moved on to lmtx which is even less demanding (unless one starts moveing 
files around in the tex infrastruture and then expects stuff to keep 
working)

> -- Systems programmers are the high priests of a low cult.
> 		-- R.S. Barton

dunno, don't know any of them

> -- Real computer scientists don't write code.  They occasionally
> tinker with `programming systems', but those are so high level that
> they hardly count (and rarely count accurately; precision is for
> applications).

dunno, never meet computer scientists (only met DEK)

> -- FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed -- it is hardy, occasionally
> blooms, and grows in every computer.
> 		-- A.J. Perlis

could be, but that's true for all computer relates stuff that is looked 
back at a decade later
  Hans

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                                           Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE
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