New Members ⇒ 1st time on LaTex

[eiger3970]

Hi, I'm a LaTex noob.
After researching the Internet and http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX I still have a question some experienced users might be able to clarify.

Can LaTex be used on Linux?
I have heard LaTex can only used on Windows, however I would prefer to use Linux.

I noticed on the download of Texmaker http://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/download.html it works on Linux.
However I don't fully understand the Texmaker editor (Linux compatible) and LaTex. If I need both (why not use the editor emacs or vim) and run LaTex on Linux?

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi,

welcome to the forum!

Of course you can use LaTeX on Linux. Most Linuxes provide packages for this, installable via that Linux's package manager. Just look for texlive there. You can install it with a few mouse clicks or one command.

Or install the most recent TeX Live version over the Internet, go to http://tug.org/texlive/ . That's what I prefer, and for me LaTeX on Linux feels much better than on Windows.

Regarding Texmaker: it's just an editor. There are more. TeX Live automatically installs TeXworks, you could try this editor. I use it and I like it. Sure, you could use vi (vim) and Emacs (see AucTeX) as well, if you like. The basis is the TeX Live installation, you can choose any editor later.

Stefan

[eiger3970]

Thank you for the reply.
This was smooth installing from the Software Manager.

However, I am unable to compile the template.tex or helloworld.tex file.
I click the LaTex Quick Build Run button and error: Could not start the command.

I already have VIM install on Linux.

I'm researching this now.

[eiger3970]

Okay, so after install the Linux Software Package Latex, I also had to install texlive-latex-base.

I can now compile my small helloworld.tex file.

However, I cannot compile the essay_1.tex file from http://www.latextemplates.com/template/ ... oned-essay

Errors: ! LaTex error: File 'float.sty' not found. Type X to quit or <RETURN> to proceed, or enter new name. (Default extension: sty).

[Johannes_B]

Almost all LaTeX packagees are contained in metapackages of the distributions. I am not sure, which meta package contains you package file, i may vary from distro to distro.

If you install a vanilla TeX Live, every available package is installed, and you don't need to worry. It takes 2 or 3 GB.

BTW: Do you really need package float? For a beginner, i don't recommend it, if you don't know what it does.