4 ms·

It is very unfortunate that ubuntu 12.04 is still only shipping texlive 2009. I think 12.10 will include texlive 2011 or 2012 (hopefully).

andreasvc 14y ago
Indeed, 12.04 will contain texlive 2012: http://packages.ubuntu.com/quantal/texlive http://packages.ubuntu.com/quantal/texlive
- tomku 14y ago
  I think you mean 12.10, if you're linking to Quantal.
  - andreasvc 14y ago
    Indeed.
eiji 14y ago
I have to ask a rhetorical question: What does the version of ubuntu has to do with the version of texlive?
- matt4711 14y ago
  If you use the ubuntu/debian package management system to install texlive (e.g. apt-get install texlive-full) you get a version that contains packages from 3 years ago. These often contain bugs that have long been fixed or are incompatible with tools they interface with (e.g. gnuplot/pgf).
einhverfr 14y ago
Maybe not quite directed at you but this touches on a different negative experience I have had. One of the interesting problems I have had with various parts of the TexLive community (not sure if it is everywhere) is an unwillingness to discuss support for older versions. It is one thing to desire that cutting-edge releases release relatively cutting-edge versions. It is very different to insist that long term support distros keep up with the cutting edge. My software runs on servers. I have no expectation that we will see current TexLive versions installed and every expectation that we won't. Yet we do the best we can and when something blows up (xelatex complaining about being outdated and having to be configured from the command-line) we address it. It's just discouraging to hear over and over that we should be requiring the latest and greatest.
- matt4711 14y ago
  can't you just keep installing texlive 2010 (for example) to get a "stable" snapshot?
  - einhverfr 14y ago
    The problem is that in most servers, the admins are going to greatly prefer working with the distribution folks to ensure everything is properly maintained and secure. Consequently there is a huge bias towards what is on the repos, and a huge bias against installing more than you have to from external sources. This is one reason we are working in getting into repos (we will be in Ubuntu and are already in Debian Testing btw). So no, that doesn't work. What does work and keeps our customers happy is making sure that what we have works with what versions they get from their vendors. TeX is not just for desktops. It is a wonderful part of an automatic document generation system. In case you are wondering what we are doing, the project is LedgerSMB (http://www.ledgersmb.org http://www.ledgersmb.org) and we use TeXLive mostly for generating PDF invoices, purchase orders, etc, along with Perl modules like Template::Plugin::Latex (unfortunately XeTeX requires hacking some of our dependencies currently :-( but that's not the TeXLive folks' fault!) Anyway I think we are still supporting TexLive 2007.....
    - keithpeter 14y ago
      "Anyway I think we are still supporting TexLive 2007" Just as well as that is what is in RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux repos. As long as my documents are forward compatible, I don't mind which vintage of LaTeX I use.
- EdiX 14y ago
  I tought TeXLive was supposed to be always backwards compatible.
  - einhverfr 14y ago
    The two big issues tend to be things like the LaTeX core requiring extra configuration when it decides it is outdated (usually after 5 years old), and this happens in xetex as well, and questions of changes of packages.
mkl 14y ago
This could be useful: https://launchpad.net/~texlive-backports/+archive/ppa/ https://launchpad.net/~texlive-backports/+archive/ppa/ TeXLive 2012 in Ubuntu 12.04. I just found it so I haven't tried it yet.

andreasvc 14y ago

Indeed, 12.04 will contain texlive 2012: http://packages.ubuntu.com/quantal/texlive http://packages.ubuntu.com/quantal/texlive

tomku 14y ago
I think you mean 12.10, if you're linking to Quantal.
- andreasvc 14y ago
  Indeed.

eiji 14y ago

I have to ask a rhetorical question: What does the version of ubuntu has to do with the version of texlive?

matt4711 14y ago
If you use the ubuntu/debian package management system to install texlive (e.g. apt-get install texlive-full) you get a version that contains packages from 3 years ago. These often contain bugs that have long been fixed or are incompatible with tools they interface with (e.g. gnuplot/pgf).

einhverfr 14y ago

Maybe not quite directed at you but this touches on a different negative experience I have had. One of the interesting problems I have had with various parts of the TexLive community (not sure if it is everywhere) is an unwillingness to discuss support for older versions. It is one thing to desire that cutting-edge releases release relatively cutting-edge versions. It is very different to insist that long term support distros keep up with the cutting edge. My software runs on servers. I have no expectation that we will see current TexLive versions installed and every expectation that we won't. Yet we do the best we can and when something blows up (xelatex complaining about being outdated and having to be configured from the command-line) we address it. It's just discouraging to hear over and over that we should be requiring the latest and greatest.

matt4711 14y ago
can't you just keep installing texlive 2010 (for example) to get a "stable" snapshot?
- einhverfr 14y ago
  The problem is that in most servers, the admins are going to greatly prefer working with the distribution folks to ensure everything is properly maintained and secure. Consequently there is a huge bias towards what is on the repos, and a huge bias against installing more than you have to from external sources. This is one reason we are working in getting into repos (we will be in Ubuntu and are already in Debian Testing btw). So no, that doesn't work. What does work and keeps our customers happy is making sure that what we have works with what versions they get from their vendors. TeX is not just for desktops. It is a wonderful part of an automatic document generation system. In case you are wondering what we are doing, the project is LedgerSMB (http://www.ledgersmb.org http://www.ledgersmb.org) and we use TeXLive mostly for generating PDF invoices, purchase orders, etc, along with Perl modules like Template::Plugin::Latex (unfortunately XeTeX requires hacking some of our dependencies currently :-( but that's not the TeXLive folks' fault!) Anyway I think we are still supporting TexLive 2007.....
  - keithpeter 14y ago
    "Anyway I think we are still supporting TexLive 2007" Just as well as that is what is in RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux repos. As long as my documents are forward compatible, I don't mind which vintage of LaTeX I use.
EdiX 14y ago
I tought TeXLive was supposed to be always backwards compatible.
- einhverfr 14y ago
  The two big issues tend to be things like the LaTeX core requiring extra configuration when it decides it is outdated (usually after 5 years old), and this happens in xetex as well, and questions of changes of packages.

mkl 14y ago

This could be useful: https://launchpad.net/~texlive-backports/+archive/ppa/ https://launchpad.net/~texlive-backports/+archive/ppa/ TeXLive 2012 in Ubuntu 12.04. I just found it so I haven't tried it yet.