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doc: manual: Update TeX Live-related sections.

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* doc/guix.texi (Invoking guix import): Mention "--recursive" option.
(Using TeX and LaTeX): Improve documentation of modular TeX Live.  Insist on
the incompatibility with TEXLIVE package, and expound part about collections
and schemes.  Also fix the call to `tlmgr', which does not need to happen from
a "guix shell" invocation.

Co-authored-by: Andreas Enge <andreas@enge.fr>
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Nicolas Goaziou 2023-09-01 22:39:15 +02:00
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@ -14175,6 +14175,16 @@ TeX package:
guix import texlive fontspec
@end example
Additional options include:
@table @code
@item --recursive
@itemx -r
Traverse the dependency graph of the given upstream package recursively
and generate package expressions for all those packages that are not yet
in Guix.
@end table
@item json
@cindex JSON, import
Import package metadata from a local JSON file. Consider the following
@ -45928,47 +45938,48 @@ will not have the desired effect. @xref{Package Transformation Options,
Guix provides packages for the @TeX{}, @LaTeX{}, ConTeXt, LuaTeX, and
related typesetting systems, taken from the
@uref{https://www.tug.org/texlive/, @TeX{} Live distribution}. However,
because @TeX{} Live is so huge and because finding your way in this maze
is tricky, we thought that you, dear user, would welcome guidance on how
to deploy the relevant packages so you can compile your @TeX{} and
@LaTeX{} documents.
because @TeX{} Live is so huge and because finding one's way in this
maze is tricky, so this section provides some guidance on how to deploy
the relevant packages to compile @TeX{} and @LaTeX{} documents.
@TeX{} Live currently comes in two flavors in Guix:
@TeX{} Live currently comes in two mutually exclusive flavors in Guix:
@itemize
@item
The ``monolithic'' @code{texlive} package: it comes with @emph{every
single @TeX{} Live package} (more than 7,000 of them), but it is huge
(more than 4@tie{}GiB for a single package!).
single @TeX{} Live package} (roughly 4,200), but it is huge---more than
4@tie{}GiB for a single package!
@item
The ``modular'' @samp{texlive-} packages: you start off with
a combination of @TeX{} Live @dfn{collections} and
@dfn{schemes}---``meta-packages'' such as
@code{texlive-collection-fontsrecommended}, or
@code{texlive-collection-context}, that provide the set of packages
needed in this particular domain, schemes being the name for collections
of such collections. This grants you core functionality and the main
commands---@command{pdflatex}, @command{dvips}, @command{luatex},
@command{mf}, etc. You can then complete your selection with additional
collections or individual packages that provide just the features you
need---@code{texlive-listings} for the @code{listings} package,
@code{texlive-beamer} for Beamer, @code{texlive-pgf} for PGF/TikZ, and
so on.
A ``modular'' @TeX{} Live distribution, in which you only install the
packages, always prefixed with @samp{texlive-}, you need.
@end itemize
We recommend using the modular package set because it is much less
resource-hungry. To build your documents, you would use commands such
as:
So to insist, these two flavors cannot be combined@footnote{No rule
without exception! As the monolithic @TeX{} Live does not contain the
@command{biber} executable, it is okay to combine it with
@code{texlive-biber}, which does.}. If in the modular setting your
document does not compile, the solution is not to add the monolithic
@code{texlive} package, but to add the set of missing packages from the
modular distribution.
Building a coherent system that provides all the essential tools and, at
the same time, satisfies all of its internal dependencies can be
a difficult task. It is therefore recommended to start with sets of
packages, called @dfn{collections}, and @dfn{schemes}, the name for
collections of collections. The following command lists available
schemes and collections (@pxref{guix-search,, Invoking guix package}):
@example
guix shell texlive-scheme-basic texlive-cm-super -- pdflatex doc.tex
guix search texlive-\(scheme\|collection\) | recsel -p name,description
@end example
You can quickly end up with unreasonably long command lines though. The
solution is to instead write a manifest, for example like this one,
which would probably be a reasonable starting point for a French
@LaTeX{} user:
If needed, you may then complete your system with individual packages,
particularly when they belong to a large collection you're not otherwise
interested in.
For instance, the following manifest is a reasonable, yet frugal
starting point for a French @LaTeX{} user:
@lisp
(specifications->manifest
@ -45977,31 +45988,18 @@ which would probably be a reasonable starting point for a French
"texlive-scheme-basic"
"texlive-collection-latexrecommended"
"texlive-collection-fontsrecommended"
"texlive-babel-french"
;; PGF/TikZ
"texlive-pgf"
;; Additional font.
"texlive-kpfonts"))
;; From "latexextra" collection.
"texlive-tabularray"
;; From "binextra" collection.
"texlive-texdoc"))
@end lisp
You can then pass it to any command with the @option{-m} option:
@example
guix shell -m manifest.scm -- pdflatex doc.tex
@end example
@xref{Writing Manifests}, for more on manifests. In the future, we plan
to provide more collections and schemes. That will allow you to list
fewer packages.
The main difficulty here is that using the modular package set forces
you to select precisely the packages that you need. You can use
@command{guix search}, but finding the right package can prove to be
tedious. When a package is missing, @command{pdflatex} and similar
commands fail with an obscure message along the lines of:
If you come across a document that does not compile in such a basic
setting, the main difficulty is finding the missing packages. In this
case, @command{pdflatex} and similar commands tend to fail with obscure
error messages along the lines of:
@example
doc.tex: File `tikz.sty' not found.
@ -46017,7 +46015,7 @@ kpathsea: Running mktexmf phvr7t
@end example
How do you determine what the missing package is? In the first case,
you'll find the answer by running:
you will find the answer by running:
@example
$ guix search texlive tikz
@ -46027,11 +46025,11 @@ version: 59745
@end example
In the second case, @command{guix search} turns up nothing. Instead,
you can search the @TeX{} Live package database using the @command{tlmgr}
command:
you can search the @TeX{} Live package database using the
@command{tlmgr} command:
@example
$ guix shell texlive-bin -- tlmgr info phvr7t
$ tlmgr info phvr7t
tlmgr: cannot find package phvr7t, searching for other matches:
Packages containing `phvr7t' in their title/description:
@ -46046,32 +46044,10 @@ tex4ht:
texmf-dist/tex4ht/ht-fonts/alias/adobe/helvetic/phvr7t.htf
@end example
The file is available in the @TeX{} Live @code{helvetic} package, which is
known in Guix as @code{texlive-helvetic}. Quite a ride, but we found
it!
There is one important limitation though: Guix currently provides a
subset of the @TeX{} Live packages. If you stumble upon a missing
package, you can try and import it (@pxref{Invoking guix import}):
@example
guix import texlive @var{package}
@end example
Additional options include:
@table @code
@item --recursive
@itemx -r
Traverse the dependency graph of the given upstream package recursively
and generate package expressions for all those packages that are not yet
in Guix.
@end table
@quotation Note
@TeX{} Live packaging is still very much work in progress, but you can
help! @xref{Contributing}, for more information.
@end quotation
@noindent
The file is available in the @TeX{} Live @code{helvetic} package, which
is known in Guix as @code{texlive-helvetic}. Quite a ride, but you
found it!
@node Security Updates
@chapter Security Updates