Bug#225833: pdftex: Please use libpaper

[frank@kuesterei.ch (Frank Küster)]

Dylan Thurston <dpt@math.harvard.edu> schrieb:

> Package: tetex-bin
> Version: 2.0.2-5.1
> Severity: wishlist
>
> pdftex and pdflatex have hardcoded values for the default paper size
> in /etc/texmf/pdftex.cfg .  (The default in the shipped package is
> A4).  Please convert the programs to do things the uniform Debian way,
> by using the libpaper library (configured with /etc/papersize).
>
> You will need a Debian-specific patch to pdftex for this, which I
> would be happy to write if you wish.

Martin Michlmayr also offered to help with such a patch (in a reply to
the other bug you opened on the same subject).

I don't like very much the idea of adding Debian-specific patches to
tetex binaries. If something changes upstream, we have to check whether
this influences this patch, and it seems nobody of the Debian
maintainers of tetex (or the writing subscribers of tetex-maint) have a
really thorough understanding of web and web2c. 

But since now two different people have offered to help with the patch,
one of which is a debian developer, it seems that there is enough
interest and hopefully also continuing help.

I would be glad if you two could get in touch. Perhaps the patch could
also be generalized - there must be ways to configure a default
papersize also on other systems?

Regards, Frank
-- 
Frank Küster, Biozentrum der Univ. Basel
Abt. Biophysikalische Chemie