#12913: tetex is dead -----------------------------------+---------------------------------------- Reporter: zach@tu-clausthal.de | Owner: gwright@macports.org Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: Normal | Milestone: Port Enhancements Component: ports | Version: 1.5.0 Resolution: | Keywords: -----------------------------------+---------------------------------------- Comment (by shreevatsa.public@gmail.com): Replying to [comment:9 milosh@macports.org]:

Replying to [comment:7 shreevatsa.public@gmail.com]:

...

I'm interested in getting ports working with an externally installed MacTeX.

It would be possible provided you have the right links in ${prefix}/bin (bibtex, latex and maybe a few other). In fact, macports dependency engine allows for depending on a file being present instead of a full port, and '''it was agreed that ports depending on tex should use that dependency scheme.'''

That is great news! I wonder how I missed this. If there is consensus, I propose the following solution:

You could try a 'ln -s mactex/s/location/latex /opt/local/bin/latex' and 'ln -s mactex/s/location/bibtex /opt/local/bin/bibtex' and see if things depending on tex install well. Then you could contribute a port that just puts the good links in /opt/local/bin (a little like what the 'texlive' port does)...

That would not be necessary, if the following solution were adopted, which is a tool for exactly this sort of thing: The MacTeX distribution (which is what most LaTeX sites recommend installing) comes with a preference pane which shows up in System Preferences as "TeX Distribution". This is a smart tool that detects existing TeX distributions (such as its own TeXLive 2007, or gwTeX, or Fink's teTeX, or MacPorts's teTeX), and provides radio buttons for the user to choose which distribution he/she wants to use, and places corresponding links in /usr/texbin. This means that one can try out new distributions on the fly without disturbing existing distributions. So all MacPorts has to do is include "/usr/texbin" at the front of its binpath; then *any* distribution would automatically be available for ports that depend on "bin:tex". I have successfully installed auctex this way by putting /usr/texbin in macports.conf, and I can confirm it works. jmr: Awesome, thanks! It would be great to phase out teTeX. -- Ticket URL: <http://trac.macosforge.org/projects/macports/ticket/12913#comment:12> MacPorts </projects/macports> Ports system for Mac OS