Difference between revisions of "TeX Distributions"

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<tr style="background-color:#DDDDDD"><th>Name</th><th>OS</th><th>Homepage</th><th>Remarks</th></tr>
 
<tr style="background-color:#DDDDDD"><th>Name</th><th>OS</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>[[pdfTeX|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>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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 replacement as C libraries (pre-alpha state)</td></tr>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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 replacement as C libraries (pre-alpha state)</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>
 
<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>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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>
<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>[[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>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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 2004.10.07]]</td></tr>
 
<tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE"><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 2004.10.07]]</td></tr>
 
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Revision as of 15:50, 1 January 2006

< Installation hints | Update Hints | Linux 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 and fpTeX; no installer on Windows
teTeXLinux, Unixtug.org/tetexweb2c
fpTeXWin32fptex.orgweb2c, based on teTeX
MikTeXWinmiktex.orgwith GUI
proTeXtWintug.org/protextbased on MikTeX, bundled with TeX Live
gwTeXMacOS Xrna.nlweb2c, based on TeX Live; comfortable install and update GUI ("i-Installer")
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.
  • See MikTeX Problems for more.

alternative TeX processors

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...

NameOSHomepageRemarks
pdf(e)TeX"all"pdftex.orglatest version at freshmeat or sarovar
MetaTeXPOSIXmetatex.orgtries to provide a fast pdfTeX, MetaPost etc. and kpathsea replacement as C libraries (pre-alpha state)
NTSJavaCTANOO re-implementation of TeX in Java as a base for further enhancements
ExTeXJavaextex.orgmerger of NTS with eTeX, pdfTeX and Omega (pre-alpha state)
Aleph"all"?CTANOmega/eTeX merge (former eOmega) by Giuseppe Bilotta (beta state)
XeTeXMacOS Xsil.orguses Mac special features; bidirectional typesetting; supported by ConTeXt since Context 2004.10.07