[OS X TeX] Latex tree

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 27.02.2011 um 06:04 schrieb soumya dipta:

> I am trying to install some new packages in my system Mac OSX.

They should be kept outside the "regular" distribution, outside the  
area managed by tlmgr/TLU. So it's either /usr/local/texlive/texmf- 
local for a system-wide or ~/Library/texmf for a personal  
installation, if you're using MacTeX.

If you don't have a "global" file system, then you don't have a  
"global" TeX tree. Besides, tlmgr and TeX have no idea of "global",  
they make a distinction between system-wide, as managed by tlmgr/TLU,  
and personal. The system-wide trees have a release specific branch ( / 
usr/local/texlive/20XY) and an independent branch (/usr/local/texlive/ 
texmf-local), for example for additional font support or to serve a  
particular direction in science or to allow use of some non-Latin  
script and a language that makes use of it. Other TeX distributions  
for UNIX systems support this for personal trees as well  
(~/.texlive20XY) while MacTeX does not and puts the whole mix into one  
~/Library/texmf tree. The system-wide trees necessitate to run 'sudo  
texhash <optional directory>" after each change – and this change can  
only happen with elevated privileges.

Details are described in the TeX Directory Structure (TDS)  
description. Many packages follow this "format" and can easily be  
installed in the branch's root.


If you could tell us what you intend to install we could give less  
general annotations.

--
Greetings

   Pete

Clovis' Consideration of an Atmospheric Anomaly:
         The perversity of nature is nowhere better demonstrated than  
by the fact that, when exposed to the same atmosphere, bread becomes  
hard while crackers become soft