[tex-live] Installing latest TeX Live on Ubuntu

[George N. White III]

On 2/26/12, Zdenek Wagner <zdenek.wagner at gmail.com> wrote:

> 2012/2/26 Nickolai Leschov <nleschov at gmail.com>:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have trouble installing latest TeX Live on Ubuntu. I need the latest
>> version of TeX Live, so I install with the install-tl installer, not
>> from repositories.
>>
>> I try to follow the instructions "TeX Live and Debian/Ubuntu"
>> (http://www.tug.org/texlive/debian.html), section "Integrating vanilla
>> TeX Live with Debian". First, how do I install "as root, system-wide"?

I suggest removing this advice from debian.html and substituting
Zdenek's method given below, or at least mentioning both options.

>> I do "sudo ./install-tl" Is this right? Then, how do I "ensure that
>> the only Debian TeX Live packages installed are tex-common, texinfo,
>> and perhaps lmodern"?
>>
> First, I never install TeX Live as root, you may have problems later
> when updating (sudo may not find the right PATH for tlmgr unless you
> configure TL even for use by root). Instead (as root) I create
> /usr/local/texlive and change the owner so that a normal user, who is
> supposed to take care of the TL installation, is the owner with write
> permission. After installation you have to set PATH properly. The TL
> path must be at the beginning. There are several places where it can
> be set, e.g. /etc/environment, /etc/bashrc, or user's ~/.bashrc or
> ~/.bash_profile. For system-wide settings /etc/environment is probably
> the best choice.
>
>> Unfortunately, after following the instructions the latex command
>> cannot be found after reboot. How do I add latex to the path
>> permanently?

This is really a linux question.   There are many introductory linux
documents which discuss ways to add directories to the PATH.
Perhaps the documentation should note that some linux admin
knowledge is required to carry out the indicated steps.   For debian
and Ubuntu, the debian-reference is available in many translations
and covers the required topics as well as many others important to
debian users.

>> I tried to reinstall in wizard mode with "./install-tl -gui wizard"
>> but it says "(default not allowed or not writable - please change!)"
>> about the installation directory. Is this because the "sudo" I added?
>> How do I fix it?
>>
> sudo may have problems with PATH
>
>> My system is Ubuntu 11.04 i386, later I intend to install on 9.04 i386
>> too.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Nickolai Leschov
>>
> --
> Zdeněk Wagner
> http://hroch486.icpf.cas.cz/wagner/
> http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz



-- 
George N. White III <aa056 at chebucto.ns.ca>
Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia