Difference between revisions of "TeX Distributions"

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< [[Installation hints]] | [[Linux Installation]] >
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< [[Installation hints]] | [[Update Hints]] | [[Installation]] >
  
 
Historically there were a lot of different TeX distributions. Nowadays there are only a few wide spread. We mention only those that are free and support ConTeXt:
 
Historically there were a lot of different TeX distributions. Nowadays there are only a few wide spread. We mention only those that are free and support ConTeXt:
  
<table border="1">
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<table style="border:1px solid #DDDDDD">
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><th>Name</th><th>OS</th><th>Homepage</th><th>Remarks</th></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#DDDDDD"><th>Name</th><th>OS</th><th>Homepage</th><th>Remarks</th></tr>
<tr><td>TeX Live</td><td>a lot</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/texlive/ tug.org/texlive]</td><td>web2c, based on teTeX and fpTeX</td></tr>
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<tr><td>TeX Live</td><td>a lot</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/texlive/ tug.org/texlive]</td><td>web2c, based on teTeX; has installer and a package manger.</td></tr>
<tr><td>teTeX</td><td>Linux, Unix</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/tetex/ tug.org/tetex]</td><td>web2c</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>teTeX</td><td>Linux, Unix</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/tetex/ tug.org/tetex]</td><td>web2c; not supported any more, TeX Live is recommended instead.</td></tr>
<tr><td>fpTeX</td><td>Win32</td><td>[http://www.fptex.org fptex.org]</td><td>web2c, based on teTeX</td></tr>
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<tr><td>fpTeX</td><td>Win32</td><td>[https://xemtex.groups.foundry.supelec.fr/xemtex-web-gb-2-5.html xemtex]</td><td>not maintained any more, see XEmTeX</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>XEmTeX</td><td>Win</td><td>[https://xemtex.groups.foundry.supelec.fr/xemtex-web-gb-2-1.html xemtex]</td><td></td></tr>
 
<tr><td>MikTeX</td><td>Win</td><td>[http://www.miktex.org/ miktex.org]</td><td>with GUI</td></tr>
 
<tr><td>MikTeX</td><td>Win</td><td>[http://www.miktex.org/ miktex.org]</td><td>with GUI</td></tr>
<tr><td>gwTeX</td><td>MacOS X</td><td>[http://www.rna.nl/tex.html rna.nl]</td><td>web2c, based on TeX Live, comfortable install and update GUI</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>proTeXt</td><td>Win</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/protext/ tug.org/protext]</td><td>based on MikTeX, bundled with TeX Live</td></tr>
<tr><td>minimal ConTeXt</td><td>Win, Lin, Mac</td><td>[http://www.pragma-ade.com/context/install/ pragma-ade.com]</td><td>web2c</td></tr>
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<tr><td>W32TeX</td><td>Win</td><td>[http://www.fsci.fuk.kindai.ac.jp/kakuto/win32-ptex/web2c75-e.html fsci.fuk.kindai.ac.jp]</td><td>with XeTeX and the latest ConTeXt</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>gwTeX</td><td>MacOS X</td><td>[http://www.rna.nl/tex.html rna.nl]</td><td>web2c, based on TeX Live; comfortable install and update GUI ("i-Installer"). Now unsupported</td></tr>
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<tr><td>MacTeX</td><td>MacOS X</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/mactex/ tug.org/mactex]</td><td>web2c, based on TeX Live; comfortable install. Actually the simplest MacOSX install.</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>minimal ConTeXt</td><td>Win, Lin, Mac</td><td>[http://www.pragma-ade.com/context/install/ pragma-ade.com]</td><td>web2c</td></tr>
 
</table>
 
</table>
  
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* use <tt>mktexlsr</tt> (same as <tt>texhash</tt>) to rebuild the file database after every install or change!
 
* use <tt>mktexlsr</tt> (same as <tt>texhash</tt>) to rebuild the file database after every install or change!
* '''Beware''', older web2c distributions keep ConTeXt’s (Perl/Ruby) scripts at <tt>.../context/perltk</tt>, newer at <tt>.../scripts/Perl/context</tt>! Make sure to delete the older ones!
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* '''Beware''', older web2c distributions keep ConTeXt’s (Perl/Ruby) scripts at <tt>.../context/perltk</tt>, newer at <tt>.../scripts/Perl/context</tt>! Make sure to delete the older ones! See also [[Update Hints]]
  
 
==MikTeX hints==
 
==MikTeX hints==
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* You should enable write18 in <tt>miktex.ini</tt> (MikTeX's counterpart to [[texmf.cnf]]) to get MetaPost support working.
 
* You should enable write18 in <tt>miktex.ini</tt> (MikTeX's counterpart to [[texmf.cnf]]) to get MetaPost support working.
  
==alternative TeX processors==
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== TeX engines==
  
TeX the program writes only DVI output; with ConTeXt we normally use pdfeTeX, a merger of eTeX and pdfTeX &#150; it's nowadays probably the most used TeX processor and part of all(?) distributions. But there are more...
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TeX the program writes only DVI output; with ConTeXt we normally use [[PdfTeX|pdfTeX]], [[LuaTeX]] or [[XeTeX]] and generate PDF.
  
<table border="1">
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<table style="border:1px solid #DDDDDD">
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><th>Name</th><th>OS</th><th>Homepage</th><th>Remarks</th></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#DDDDDD"><th>Name</th><th>OS</th><th>ConTeXt</th><th>Homepage</th><th>Remarks</th></tr>
<tr><td>pdf(e)TeX</td><td>"all"</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/applications/pdftex/ pdftex.org]</td><td>latest version at [http://freshmeat.net/projects/pdftex/ freshmeat] or [http://pdftex.sarovar.org sarovar]</td></tr>
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<tr><td><b>[[PdfTeX|pdfTeX]]</b></td><td>"all"</td><td align="center">Yes</td><td>[http://www.tug.org/applications/pdftex/ pdftex.org]</td><td>latest version at [http://freshmeat.net/projects/pdftex/ freshmeat] or [http://pdftex.sarovar.org sarovar]; [http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=luatex development frozen], see LuaTeX</td></tr>
<tr><td>MetaTeX</td><td>POSIX</td><td>[http://www.metatex.org metatex.org]</td><td>tries to provide a fast pdfTeX, MetaPost etc. and kpathsea relacement as C libraries (pre-alpha state)</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td><b>[[LuaTeX]]</b></td><td>"all"</td><td align="center">Yes</td><td>[http://www.luatex.org/ luatex.org]</td><td>extended version of pdfTeX using Lua</td></tr>
<tr><td>NTS</td><td>Java</td><td>[http://www.dante.de/CTAN//systems/nts/ CTAN]</td><td>OO re-implementation of TeX in Java as a base for further enhancements</td></tr>
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<tr><td><b>[[XeTeX]]</b></td><td>"all"</td><td align="center">Yes</td><td>[http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&item_id=xetex sil.org]</td><td>supports OpenType and all other fonts installed on OS, Unicode, bidirectional typesetting, Mac special features; Windows version not officially released yet - see W32TeX above</td></tr>
<tr><td>ExTeX</td><td>Java</td><td>[http://www.extex.org/ extex.org]</td><td>merger of NTS with eTeX, pdfTeX and Omega (pre-alpha state)</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>NTS</td><td>Java</td><td align="center">No</td><td>[http://www.dante.de/CTAN//systems/nts/ CTAN]</td><td>OO re-implementation of TeX in Java as a base for further enhancements; discontinued, see ExTeX</td></tr>
<tr><td>Aleph</td><td>"all"?</td><td>[http://www.dante.de/CTAN//systems/aleph/ CTAN]</td><td>Omega/eTeX merge (former eOmega) by Giuseppe Bilotta (beta state)</td></tr>
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<tr><td>ExTeX</td><td>Java</td><td align="center">No</td><td>[http://www.extex.org/ extex.org]</td><td>merger of NTS with eTeX, pdfTeX and Omega (pre-alpha state)</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[XeTeX]]</td><td>MacOS X</td><td>[http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&item_id=xetex sil.org]</td><td>uses Mac special features; bidirectional typesetting; supported by ConTeXt since [[Context 2004.10.7]]</td></tr>
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<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><td>[[Aleph]]</td><td>"all"?</td><td align="center">Yes</td><td>[http://www.dante.de/CTAN//systems/aleph/ CTAN]</td><td>Omega/eTeX merge (former eOmega) by Giuseppe Bilotta (beta state)</td></tr>
 
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[[Category:Installation]]

Revision as of 15:41, 20 November 2012

< Installation hints | Update Hints | Installation >

Historically there were a lot of different TeX distributions. Nowadays there are only a few wide spread. We mention only those that are free and support ConTeXt:

NameOSHomepageRemarks
TeX Livea lottug.org/texliveweb2c, based on teTeX; has installer and a package manger.
teTeXLinux, Unixtug.org/tetexweb2c; not supported any more, TeX Live is recommended instead.
fpTeXWin32xemtexnot maintained any more, see XEmTeX
XEmTeXWinxemtex
MikTeXWinmiktex.orgwith GUI
proTeXtWintug.org/protextbased on MikTeX, bundled with TeX Live
W32TeXWinfsci.fuk.kindai.ac.jpwith XeTeX and the latest ConTeXt
gwTeXMacOS Xrna.nlweb2c, based on TeX Live; comfortable install and update GUI ("i-Installer"). Now unsupported
MacTeXMacOS Xtug.org/mactexweb2c, based on TeX Live; comfortable install. Actually the simplest MacOSX install.
minimal ConTeXtWin, Lin, Macpragma-ade.comweb2c
  • web2c is a common base for TeX distributions, see tug.org/web2c. It uses the kpathsea tool and its ls-R database for file searches.

web2c hints

  • use mktexlsr (same as texhash) to rebuild the file database after every install or change!
  • Beware, older web2c distributions keep ConTeXt’s (Perl/Ruby) scripts at .../context/perltk, newer at .../scripts/Perl/context! Make sure to delete the older ones! See also Update Hints

MikTeX hints

  • MikTeX has a "rebuild database" menu entry; use it after every install or change!
  • You should enable write18 in miktex.ini (MikTeX's counterpart to texmf.cnf) to get MetaPost support working.

TeX engines

TeX the program writes only DVI output; with ConTeXt we normally use pdfTeX, LuaTeX or XeTeX and generate PDF.

NameOSConTeXtHomepageRemarks
pdfTeX"all"Yespdftex.orglatest version at freshmeat or sarovar; development frozen, see LuaTeX
LuaTeX"all"Yesluatex.orgextended version of pdfTeX using Lua
XeTeX"all"Yessil.orgsupports OpenType and all other fonts installed on OS, Unicode, bidirectional typesetting, Mac special features; Windows version not officially released yet - see W32TeX above
NTSJavaNoCTANOO re-implementation of TeX in Java as a base for further enhancements; discontinued, see ExTeX
ExTeXJavaNoextex.orgmerger of NTS with eTeX, pdfTeX and Omega (pre-alpha state)
Aleph"all"?YesCTANOmega/eTeX merge (former eOmega) by Giuseppe Bilotta (beta state)