Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
quoted text
> On Fri, May 09, 2008 at 02:24:56AM -0700, Predrag Punosevac wrote:
>   
>> Olivier Mehani wrote:
>>     
>>> On Fri, May 09, 2008 at 10:23:46AM +0200, Paul de Weerd wrote:
>>>       
>>> Are you aware of any no_x11 version?
>>>  
>>>       
>> I am not sure I understand your last question. How can you do 
>> typesetting without displaying graphics?
>> TeXLive does not require X for processing but in order to see your 
>> document you need to use xdvi, ghostview or something along those lines. 
>> Obviously, I am not suggesting that you  install  X on a  DNS server  in 
>> order
>> to do typesetting. What I am suggesting is that I would expect that you 
>> use a desktop machine running X for typesetting.
>>     
>
> I use LaTex to write letters.  I can write a letter from my text-only
> VT520, latex it, dvips it, then print the ps all without displaying it.
>
> Or, I need to send a formatted document to a non unix user and the best
> common display format is pdf.  So, I make a pdf of my document and email
> it to them.  Also no need for displaying or X.
>
> Are there other ports that require X11 for internal use even if you
> don't need to display?  If so, perhaps the xbase install set should be
> split into xlibs and xbase so that less needs to be installed on a
> non-display box for these ports to work.
>
> Doug.
>
>   
I think you got the answer from Edd. You do not need X running to 
process the text but you need xlibs to compile the port. There is 
nothing  dangerous  in installing  whole  X  on a server as long as you 
do not run it. If people are concern about the size of Xbase the bad 
news is that TeXLive is almost 1G. The good news is that the Troff is 
and various macros are included in the base of the system. Troff is 
very, very usable and lightening fast (you as a developer probably know 
Troff better than me).  Now obvious question that somebody should answer 
is does the troff require Xbase as well.


The other thing, if I remember one of the threads, is that Troff has not 
been updated for a long time. It would be nice if somebody could update 
it. Edd stated how he feels about creating no_X11 flavor.  If  I  may  
add  something to it.
One could also argue that much finer TeXLive port could have been done 
as certain parts of TeXLive experience rapid
development. TeXLive was HUGE job to port so the one who things that 
finer port is needed is welcome to create it.
Due to the OpenBSD release cycle (6 months) and the fact that packages 
are essentially unchanged during that period
the benefit of the finer port on OpenBSD would be limited. For a moving 
target like FreeBSD that certainly would make sense.

Lastly, I like your idea about splitting xbase VERY, VERY much.

Best,
Predrag