[OS X TeX] Can't compile - pdflatex issue
Richard Koch
koch at math.uoregon.edu
Sun Apr 12 12:30:34 EDT 2009
On Apr 12, 2009, at 5:55 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
> Seems that all it takes is to install Fink's (Old) TeX Distribution
> to get the interference. It would certainly be nice if they would
> update it (is it still teTeX?) and add the TeX Distribution
> preference pane.
I once asked someone involved with Fink's TeX (or maybe it was
MacPort's TeX) if they could install a TeX Dist structure. The answer
was that by general policy these systems don't install anything in /
Library. I think that's a reasonable policy.
By design, a TeX Dist structure can exist even if the actual
distribution isn't there; the Pref Pane is smart enough to check if
the TeX Dist structure points to something reasonable before offering
it as a possibile default system. MacTeX installs TeX Dist structures
for Fink's TeX and MacPort's TeX. Thus a user who has both Fink or
MacPorts and MacTeX does have the appropriate TeX Dist structures.
I believe the actual problem is that Fink and MacPorts add /sw or /opt
to the start of PATH. This doesn't matter for applications which can
be configured to look for TeX in /usr/texbin, but many people who
switch from other platforms call TeX from a shell. Even in that case
the problem is easy solved once the user understands what is happening.
Dick Koch
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