[tex-live] Is tlmgr 2008 now completely unusable?

[Manuel Pégourié-Gonnard]

B Wooster a écrit :
> I was not actually looking for updates, I'm fine with the way texlive
> 2008 works, but I had not installed the full collection and was just
> looking for one more package (xetex).
> 
If you plan to keep your TeX Live without updating yearly, then your
best chance is to install scheme-full, so you don't need to install
additional packages later.

> How should I have prevented this problem? This is on a small machine,
> so cannot install the full texlive collection. But I would like, for
> 2-5 years at least, be able to pick and choose new packages to install
> as the need arises. Updating full texlive every year is just not an
> option.

If your machine is too short of disk space to install scheme-full, then
you can try to keep a copy of tlnet on an external medium (2G USB sticks
are pretty cheap nowadays).

> I guess I don't fully understand how come there are no 2008 archives
> available (even if they are not updated and are static copies) ...

The problem is disk space on the CTAN mirrors, as Robin and Norbert
explained.

Manuel.