[OS X TeX] Advise needed for transition from PC to Mac

[Benoit RIVET]

Le 2 oct. 09 à 11:02, Peter Dyballa a écrit :

>> Does it have on the fly package download capabilities?
>
> It's not clear what you mean.

«On the fly donwload» in MikTex means that, when compiling tex files,  
you may need a package that is not installed. If this package happens  
to be listed in MikTex's packages manager, Miktex can install the  
missing package _on the fly_, then resume compiling your tex file  
(maybe installing another package or more in the process).

All this is transparent for the user: you compile your tex file,  
maybe wait a little while Miktex downloads and installs the missing  
package(s), and you can directly see the output file. No need to open  
a package manager, check whether the package is listed there, install  
it, quit the package manager, and compile again, just to see that  
another package is missing.

Note that Miktex enables to install packages on fly, by doing it  
automatically, or asking the user for each missing packes. You can  
also disable the feature and enjoy the same feature you're used to  
with TexLive :-)

In short: the «on the fly» capability is really more powerfull than  
TexLive's package manager.

>> Does it have update facilities like Miktex?
>
> No. It's a better one: as soon as some contributor has submitted an  
> update and this update is then incorporated into TeX Live and the  
> database for tlmgr/TLU, you can access this update. No extra  
> install packages need to be made as in MiKTeX.

This is really not different than MikTex. The MikTex package manager  
enables to update all installed packages just the same way as the  
TexLive package manager.