[Tex/LaTex] Automatic package install in linux?

installinglinuxpackagesupdating

In Windows, I run TexWorks, and when I include a package that I do not already have installed, it asks me if I want to install that package.

In linux (Ubuntu), I have tried this in TexWorks, and TexStudio, but it simply results in error, package not found. Is there a way to get such functionality in Linux? I tried installing texlive, but this did not evidently include that functionality.

Best Answer

There is no such functionality builtin as mentioned. However, with some botching one can create a small wrapper that does exactly that.

For example, itex uses expect to catch errors.

https://github.com/dopefishh/itex

apt-get

If you installed TeX through Ubuntu's package manager, everything will be handled through it too. Look for packages called texlive-..., i.e., to install pstricks, use the command

apt-get install texlive-pstricks

This way of installing teX on Ubuntu is common as it easy, but the drawback is that packages can be (significantly) outdated, as updates are infrequent.

tlmgr

Installing TeXLive directly (called a "vanilla" installation) is a little more hassle, but you get the benefits of an up-to-date installation.
There is already a howto on TeX.sx on how to perform such an installation: How to install "vanilla" TeXLive on Debian or Ubuntu?
As for how to manage packages, you will then be using a tool called tlmgr. The full documentation is available online, and the short answer is that you install packages with

tlmgr install <package name>

and update the whole system with

tlmgr update -all

[Tex/LaTex] How to install TexLive on dualboot with shared TEXDIR

If you are happy with experimenting a bit, I suggest to proceed as follows. Disclaimer: I don't have a dual boot machine, I kicked Windows off my Laptop years ago.

Install texlive under windows and test it. Then boot into Linux and start the installation of texlive. Cancel the installation process after some minutes. Now, you have a TDS compliant structure, but the content is missing. EDIT: Delete all files and folders inside /texlive/2014/texmf-dist/tex/latex and /texlive/2014/texmf-dist/doc (not in your Windows folder, I'm speaking only of the Linux side!).

Then make two links:

link from .../texlive/2014/texmf-dist/tex/latex to C:/texlive/2014/texmf-dist/tex/latex
link from .../texlive/2014/texmf-dist/doc to C:/texlive/2014/texmf-dist/doc

I don't know whether a hard link or a symbolic link, but as Linux has this link feature, I'd check this possibility. Maybe here are some geeks who know exactly how to set a link from a Linux folder to a NTFS folder somewhere else.

Why only those two links? Because the LaTeX packages and the documents make the lions share of the texlive.

OK. Then restart the installation under Linux. I hope that tlmgr will accept the link to your windows installation and then try to install every single package and documentation, but notices they are already there.

Recently I transferred all doc and latex files to another computer and that part (start installation, abort, transfer, restart) worked. But I have no experience with linking into a windows installation.

Of course, you have to install the linux packages for writing into ntfs. And maybe you ruin your texlive installation on windows, if the installer tries something unexpected. But if you make a backup of it, why not giving it a whirl.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Installing packages for linux on texworks

apt-get

tlmgr

[Tex/LaTex] How to install TexLive on dualboot with shared TEXDIR

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