[OS X TeX] Wrong latex getting used.

Richard Koch koch at math.uoregon.edu
Tue Mar 3 19:03:22 EST 2009


Folks,

I'm writing in case someone else asks the "Fink" question in the future.

The TeX Distribution data structure knows about Fink's teTeX package.  
So if the TeX Distribution Preference pane lists TeX Live the active  
distribution and Fink's teTeX is later installed, front ends and GUI  
utilities will continue to work normally.

The problem arises when calling TeX from a shell. Fink often adds the  
command "source /sw/bin/init.csh" to shell startup scripts; this  
command modifies PATH so /sw/bin comes first. This is easily fixed;  
modify PATH after this line by adding /usr/texbin to the start of  
PATH. With this fix, TeX commands go to the active TeX distribution  
while other commands go to Fink.

Note that /usr/texbin is NOT a symbolic link to TeX Live; instead it  
is a symbolic link to the TeX Distribution data structure. So changing  
the active distribution changes the linked location. In particular, if  
Fink's teTeX is made the active distribution, then /usr/texbin will  
point to /sw/bin and the user will be back to the original Fink setup.

This information is available at the MacTeX page www.tug.org/mactex by  
following the link "Multiple TeX Distributions" and scrolling to the  
end of the page.

Dick Koch





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