I'm on Ubuntu 16.10 and using TexLive from the default Ubuntu repo. I'm trying to use the package sansmath. Looking with kpsewhich comes back blank. So I try tlmgr install sansmath and (with/without sudo) get
Cannot determine type of tlpdb from /home/hercynian/texmf!
cannot setup TLPDB in /home/hercynian/texmf at /usr/bin/tlmgr line 5713.
Looking around this site, I see older posts giving dire warnings of using the default Ubuntu repo versions of TexLive, as it is very out of date. If this is still true (I've installed texlive full) should I uninstall then hand-install from latest-greatest? Please advise.
Best Answer
I am using Ubuntu 16.04, and found that the distro TeXlive was indeed out of date. Don't know about 16.10.
It is easy to install TeXlive directly, without the Ubuntu package manager. First uninstall the distro version, but be careful: There are some non-TeX programs that expect TeX to be there. Pay attention to what you are removing. You can leave TeXworks in place, if the package manager lets you do that.
Get the TeXlive installer directly from them. Best if you install it without sudo, in a folder somewhere in your home directory. You can save a lot of space if you do not install the source code, or languages you won't use, or documentation. You can grab per-package documentation on a need basis, later.
Works great. I believe I have the latest and greatest TeX has to offer, possibly excepting "developer" files.