How to install the latest LaTeX

LaTeX checks its age by itself and complains when it finds it is not young enough! We can satisfy our paranoid LaTeX by upgrading it to the latest version. Here is a step-by-step procedure.

1. Get the latest LaTeX distribution.

             $ mkdir ctan
             $ cd ctan
             $ ncftp ftp.tex.ac.uk
             > cd tex-archive/macros/latex
             > get base.tar.gz
             > bye

2. Unpack the distribution and generate the LaTeX format file.

             $ tar zxvf base.tar.gz
             $ cd base
             $ initex unpack.ins
             $ initex latex.ltx

3. Install the files to your "$TEXMF" tree.

             $ su
             # cp latex.fmt latex.log /usr/share/texmf/web2c
             # cp *.fd *.cls *.clo *.sty *.def *.tex /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base
             # cp *.ist /usr/share/texmf/makeindex
             # exit

4. Test your installation.

             $ mkdir tmp
             $ cp ltxcheck.tex tmp
             $ cd tmp
             $ latex ltxcheck.tex

5. Enjoy the latest LaTex!

How to regenerate LaTeX format

Sometimes you need to regenerate the LaTeX format file, "latex.fmt", for example when you updated Babel package for a better hyphenation.

          $ locate latex.ltx
          /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/latex.ltx
          $ cd /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base
          $ su
          # initex latex.ltx
          # cp latex.fmt latex.log /usr/share/texmf/web2c
          # exit

How to install PDFLaTeX binary

PDFLaTeX is undergoing continous developement. Here is an easy and quick way to install the latest PDFLaTeX. However it is not guranteed to work for all Linux distributions.

          $ mkdir ctan
          $ cd ctan
          $ mkdir pdftex
          $ cd pdftex
          $ ncftp ftp.muni.cz
          > cd pub/tex/local/cstug/thanh/pdftex/
          > cd 0.14h   ( or other latest one )
          > get pdftex-linux-20010417.zip
          > exit
          $ unzip pdftex-linux-20010417.zip
          $ su
          # cp /usr/bin/pdftex /usr/bin/pdftex.org
          # cp /usr/bin/pdfetex /usr/bin/pdfetex.org
          # cp pdftex pdfetex ttf2afm pdftosrc /usr/bin
          # cp pdftex.pool pdfetex.pool /usr/share/texmf/web2c
          # cd /usr/share/texmf/pdftex/latex/config
          # pdfinitex pdflatex.ini
          # cp pdflatex.fmt pdflatex.log /usr/share/texmf/web2c
          # rm pdflatex.fmt pdflatex.log
          # cd /usr/share/texmf/pdftex/plain/config
          # pdfinitex pdftex.ini
          # cp pdftex.fmt pdftex.log /usr/share/texmf/web2c
          # rm pdftex.fmt pdftex.log
          # exit