To my surprise, I haven't found a question related on this in the search.
There are several possibilities for how one can install packages.
For me the best way for installing additional packages in TeXLive is to use tlmgr
The manual page for tlmgr
starts with:
tlmgr
manages an existing TeX Live installation, both packages and
configuration options.
Installing packages is quite easy,
tlmgr install <packagename>
also removing them again:
tlmgr remove <packagename>
So when can one use tlmgr
, when should one use it?
What are the biggest advantages apart from straightforwardness of using tlmgr
?
What are the possible disadvantages?
What are the most useful commands apart from the standard commands?
Note: The question asks not about the pros and cons of updating per se. As indicated after an edit above, there are still multiple ways to update packages, and people (at least me in the past) are using them all mixed together.
Best Answer
These methods cannot be compared!
tlmgr
manages a TeX Live installation as obtained from TUG, while other methods likeapt-get
manage packages of distributions like Debian, including the packages of TeX Live included in Debian.Both cannot (or only with very strong restrictions, see user mode) be used together. You have to decide what you want.
The rest is an all time favorite here: should one use the distribution packages of TeX Live or upstream TUG. Depending on your distribution, branch, etc the answer may vary, but from what I know I believe that if you don't have upgraditis then using the distribution packages is completely sufficient.