NeoArch

I use Ubuntu on a regular basis, but I find that sometimes the packages I can obtain with apt-get stink. Sometimes they’re not up to date, sometimes they’re incomplete, and sometimes the various mirror servers have broken packages. I’m not complaining. That’s just life when you’re using free and open source software. Sometimes things don’t work as they’re supposed to and you have to find a workaround. Sometimes building from source saves major headaches.

Anyway, such was the case recently when I wanted to install Tex Live. The Ubuntu sources for Tex Live were incomplete, and I constantly had errors, missing fonts, etc. So, I decided to try installing the full TeX Live CD myself. For me, it works like a charm, and I no longer have any problems. So, I offer this for any LaTeX and Ubuntu noobs out there who want a solution that works.

Here’s what I did. First, I used synaptic to fully uninstall all LaTeX and TeX Live packages.

Next, I went to CTAN and downloaded the installer for the 2008 CD. I extracted the folder to my desktop, opened a command prompt, and typed the following:

cd ~/Desktop/install-tl/
sudo ./install-tl
I

Then, I waited until the install was complete. I had to restart it a couple of times due to connection time outs, but in the end, the entire CD downloaded. It takes a while.

After the install finished, I opened my .bashrc file and made one change so that bash understood where to look for my paths.

sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

At the end of the file, I added this line:
PATH=/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/i386-linux:$PATH; export PATH

Then, I saved the file and sourced the .bashrc file:
source ~/.bashrc

Now, if you’ve done all that, you can test it by typing:
latex -v

If everything worked, it should tell you about the version, and you should be good to go.