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I just installed LaTeX on my system, which is a Linux Mint 16 (Cinnamon) 32-bit installation on a 64-bit Lenovo e420.

I originally had used apt-get to install the base Ubuntu package along with Texworks. But I soon ran into a problem with tlmgr ("cannot setup TLPDB") that is identified as a bug here.

Based on a relevant stackexchange thread I removed my LaTeX packages, downloaded the most recent manual install from tug.org, and did a manual install. tlmgr now works. But, even though the installer indicates that there is a Texworks collection, Texworks doesn't seem to get installed. Texworks doesn't appear in the Texlive .../bin/ location, PATH, etc. If it does get installed, I don't know where it is. Is this expected behavior? Did I do something wrong? (Note: if I install the Texworks package from the repositories, I can use it and compile documents. But I don't know if there are hidden compatibility issues that might crop up).

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nivek
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    Vanilla TeXlive (which you installed) does not contain TeXworks. – Martin Schröder Jan 29 '14 at 00:23
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    The trick is to install Texworks from the repositories without installing texlive-whatever from the repositories. Usually, this means installing a 'dummy' package which convinces your package manager that the dependencies for the editor are installed properly. I haven't done this on Ubuntu but I did it a while back for Debian and currently use it for both Fedora and Arch. Although finding the information to set this up might be slightly tricky, it is a lot easier than dealing with two installations at once. Also, somebody is bound to have posted instructions for Ubuntu as it is so popular. – cfr Jan 29 '14 at 03:08
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    Here are instructions: https://www.tug.org/texlive/debian.html. – cfr Jan 29 '14 at 03:13
  • @MartinSchröder, I installed a custom version by using the relevant menu item in the install tool. (i.e., I installed the basic packages plus a few, including Texworks). – nivek Jan 30 '14 at 01:43
  • @Kevin The TeX Live package only includes the TeXworks binary on Windows and OS X. In the case of Linux, the binary is missing because it depends on a bunch of libraries which will vary depending on your distribution, distribution version, the repositories you use etc. See /usr/local/texlive/2013/texmf-dist/doc/texworks/README for the explanation (assuming you installed in the standard localtion). – cfr Jan 30 '14 at 04:52
  • @cfr, thanks again. I following Debian package replacement instructions. Can't figure out the mapping between the "collections" offered in the manual install script, and the packages that must be listed in the "dummy package" provided for apt. (If I can avoid it, I don't want a full install and prefer to install pkgs later as needed with tlmgr). If I selected scheme d ("basic scheme") which corresponds to collections "a" and "F" ("Essential programs and files" and "LaTeX fundamental packages"), what Debian package names correspond? I know tlmgr list may help but haven't figure out yet! – nivek Jan 31 '14 at 17:16
  • @Kevin There is unlikely to be any such straightforward mapping. I don't know the details of Debian's packaging but generally distros' package in whatever way makes most sense to them and their users, something which rarely corresponds neatly with TeX Live's collections. Unless you are short of disk space, I would recommend just doing a full install. This has the advantage that you can pretty much guarantee compiling stuff will work even if you are off-line. Moreover, I think it would be a pain to have to keep adding packages as you need them. Is there any reason you need to avoid this? – cfr Jan 31 '14 at 23:37
  • @cfr No reason except wanting to save disk space. Lol---somehow I'm not surprised that this issue isn't as straightforward as I wanted it to be. :-) Agreed that it is a pain to download as needed. (I did always like MikTeX's response to this issue, with the option to download packages automatically as soon as needed... but I am too far down this road now to go back to Windows) I'll just go ahead and do a full install. Thanks again! – nivek Feb 01 '14 at 20:21

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