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I had installed texlive 2019 (using the installer) on yoga 2 pro laptop running linux Mint-xcfe 19.1. There were on problems with the (default path) installation, and latex works fine. However, when I try to use tlmgr, I am told that the folder where texlive is (/usr/local/texlive/2019 ) is not writable. If I try to do: sudo tlmgr gui I am told that tlmgr is not installed (because texlive bypasses linux's package management). How do I use tlmgr under those circumstances?

user212409
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    sudos PATH is not the same as yours, so it is trying a system tlmgr. Not sure (I'm on a single user system, so I install TL2019 as my self in /opt, so I don't need sudo), but perhaps sudo -E tlmgr ... might work? – daleif May 09 '19 at 13:28
  • I had some trouble installing TL in a directory different from the default, but I do want to try again, since it is important for me to be able to get updates. I must say that the whole installation/updating of TL, at least on Linux, is an abomination. Of course, the problem is that the maintainers of the repositories are a couple of years behind, so if you want to use the system's approved method of installation you must settle for TL 2017, which is not good enough for me. – user212409 May 11 '19 at 09:24
  • What exactly do you mean is an abomination? I do not have any issues with upstream texlive on Ubuntu – daleif May 11 '19 at 10:33
  • The fonts on the gui are microscopic, with nno visible way of changing them.
    • – user212409 May 11 '19 at 18:04
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  • The fonts on the gui are microscopic, with no visible way of changing them. 2) The need to tell Linux the correct paths, even though the installer knows them (see the messages you get at the terminal after you install). 3) The tlmgr confusion regarding the root/no root user. Other programs are large and complex (R, RStudio ocme to mind) without the kind of torturous installation/maintenance that Texlive puts the user through. On the positive side, it is free, and once installed properly, works fine.
    • – user212409 May 11 '19 at 18:11
  • I have yet to have issues with the font size, perhaps a mint thing. As for the path, there is no common way to add things to the path on linux, too many different envs. And no, adding soft links during installation is a very bad thing to do. As I said, I never install tl as root, I create a folder owned by me and installs there, no more confusion. Don't get me started on R and Rstudio, there are so many things that can go wrong there that make texlive look like a piece of cake. It is better on Linux, but R and Rstudio on other os' are a nightmare – daleif May 11 '19 at 18:18
  • An example (from Windows 10): Had trouble uninstalling Texlive 2017. Deleted the texlive folder, and installed TL 2019. No problem-- no error messages. But it did not work, claiming that it couldn't find various things. Go to uninstall-- Windows claims that it couldn't find Texlive. A person might get frustrated ;-( – user212409 May 12 '19 at 15:03
  • Noone understands windows. Users sometimes have some very strange setups. – daleif May 12 '19 at 17:09