A compiler for Tex sources in Slackware?

stf92 · 01-31-2017, 05:52 PM

Suppose I write a Tex source file and now I want to see how it looks. I presume there's a program which translates/compiles the source to, say, html, pdf or whatever "viewable" format. Does Slackware 12.x have something like that. I did 'apropos tex|grep -iw tex' and found:

Code:

bill@server:/almacen/STORE1/Nonsoft/libros$ apropos tex|grep -iw tex
dvipdf []            (1)  - Convert TeX DVI file to PDF using ghostscript and dvips
fig2ps2tex []        (1)  - generate a TeX file for including a PostScript file
grodvi []            (1)  - convert groff output to TeX dvi format
pic []               (1)  - compile pictures for troff or TeX
bill@server:/almacen/STORE1/Nonsoft/libros$

I often post in math forums. As I'm not always online, I'd like to write the source and see the result off-line. When it is OK and I'm online I just copy it and paste it in the forum page edit window. That' why I ask.

drgibbon · 01-31-2017, 07:37 PM

If you're doing a lot of LaTeX stuff, I would recommend removing the minimal tetex that comes with Slackware, and installing the full TeX Live (there's also a slackbuild for it, although the official UNIX installer is clean and only touches one directory).

From there I use latexmk in my makefile. It produces a PDF by default, and it will automatically handle multiple runs for bibliographies, cross-refs, etc. You can select engines easily enough, for example xelatex;

Code:

latexmk -xelatex file.tex

If you're interested in different output formats, Pandoc is probably worth a look too.

stf92 · 01-31-2017, 07:50 PM

Thanks. Should I download (slackbuilds) the Arch-independent sources too? What are they for?

drgibbon · 01-31-2017, 07:54 PM

The easiest way to install anything from slackbuilds.org is with sbopkg. If you prefer just the commandline (with some semi-automation), then sbotools are also very good. There are other programs as well, but I haven't tried them.

franzen · 02-01-2017, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stf92

Suppose I write a Tex source file and now I want to see how it looks. I presume there's a program which translates/compiles the source to, say, html, pdf or whatever "viewable" format. Does Slackware 12.x have something like that.

As you are on Slackware 12.x, try (the already installed?) tetex. To get a pdf, i like to do

Code:

pdflatex file.tex

.
If you really need more uptodate tex-packages for slackware 12.x, i would try the oldest texlive from sbo, which is maybe still to new to be build on slackware 12.x

stf92 · 02-01-2017, 06:07 PM

Well, following a suggestion by an LQer, I installed TEXLIVE. Now I see I don't need such a monster to compile just a few tiny math propositions. I do have tetex on my Slackware 12.1. Only as I am new to Tex/Latex I do not know what are the minimum directives I should use to make the compiler not to complain. I would need to have the barest template to embed my code there, for instance $A_5= b^{m-n}$, and to be able to compile it and seeing it with pdflatex, say. Would such a template be very bulky?

astrogeek · 02-01-2017, 07:01 PM

If you do not especially want to learn TeX/LaTeX, LyX is an excellent editor that will let you do math expressions out of the box.

There is a LyX SlackBuild for 12.1 which works without any non-Slackware TeX packages.

On the other hand, if you want to learn how to use TeX/LaTeX markup, the The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e by Tobi Oetiker is really not very long and is very complete. The first 3-4 chapters will have you writing a short template from scratch - not too difficult.

drgibbon · 02-01-2017, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stf92

Well, following a suggestion by an LQer, I installed TEXLIVE. Now I see I don't need such a monster to compile just a few tiny math propositions. I do have tetex on my Slackware 12.1. Only as I am new to Tex/Latex I do not know what are the minimum directives I should use to make the compiler not to complain. I would need to have the barest template to embed my code there, for instance $A_5= b^{m-n}$, and to be able to compile it and seeing it with pdflatex, say. Would such a template be very bulky?

If you are not doing your actual work in LaTeX (I mean preparing reports, articles, etc), then no, you don't need TeXLive. The minimal template to produce some output would be;

Code:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}

% your maths equations go here
\(A_5 = b^{m-n}\)

\end{document}

You can compile that with a simple "pdflatex file.tex". Also, see here for more info about mathematics in LaTeX.