On Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 1:02 AM, Bill Meahan
On 6/26/2013 6:24 PM, Hans Hagen wrote: ........................[snip].........................
If there is one thing I have learned in developing software since 1965 (not a typo), it is to never depend on *any *third-party application being present. If it is not part of the base system install, it probably won't be there. I've even met Unix systems without *make*. Requiring the user to use some flag or other seldom flies and results in many nastygrams and late-night phone calls. If you need it, include it.
yes , this is how currently the standalone core context --- and in the end, also the texlive -- works, with the constrain that it has to work with the same results on several different platforms. This means that the viewer cannot be part of the core -- it's the same situation of inkscape for svg. But instead of give no support at all sometime is better to give some support, if possibile -- for example if it's easy to install a pdf viewer or inkscape.
-- luigi