Should TexLive map pdflatex to pdftex?

Question

On my computer (OS X 10.7.5; last versions of MacTeX and TeXShop)

/usr/texbin is an alias for /usr/local/texlive/2013/bin/x86_64-darwin/

and in there

pdflatex is an alias for pdftex

Is this a bug or a feature?

Trying to compile the code below, seems to suggest I might also have a problem with biber, as well. How do I need to proceed to clean up my installation, in a way that reinstalling both MacTeX and TeXShop will give me something functional?

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{biblatex}
\addbibresource{game.bib}

    \begin{document}
        \begin{frame}
            Here is text \footfullcite{vNM1944theory}.
            Here is text \fullcite{vNM1944theory}.
    \end{frame}

    \end{document}

Thanks for reading.

    @book{vNM1944theory,
      title={The theory of games and economic behavior},
      author={Von Neumann, John and Morgenstern, Oskar},
      year={1944},
      publisher={Princeton university press}
    }

output

data source /var/folders/8j/bx2qhrfj7vxd5n7y22409zj40000gn/T/par-636564726963/cache-955b5cd96386991ca6623279060097e4c757d28e/inc/lib/Biber/LaTeX/recode_data.xml not found in . — sunless, Feb 10 '14 at 14:51
This folder: /var/folders/8j/bx2qhrfj7vxd5n7y22409zj40000gn/T/par-636564726963/cache-955b5cd9‌6386991ca6623279060097e4c757d28e/ — Juri Robl, Feb 10 '14 at 14:56
Regarding the 'bug' vs 'feature' question, this question might prove enlightening. — jon, Feb 10 '14 at 15:59

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 10 '14 at 14:48

5

It's a feature! The same binary is used for the functionality, and which one is selected depends on the name you use to start it.

answered Feb 10 '14 at 14:48

Juri Robl

4,763

2

It's worth noting that pdftex very likely looks at argv[0] to see what it was called as, selecting the default format from there. That's how it can tell. – Sean Allred Feb 10 '14 at 14:51
Yes it does IIRC. – Juri Robl Feb 10 '14 at 14:52

Should TexLive map pdflatex to pdftex?

1 Answers1