My 2020 Setup for LaTeX

Here is a short write-up of my current LaTeX setup. Since I sometimes need to process documents on Linux systems (usually in a CI/CD context) the natural choice for me these days is TeX Live on Windows.

My preferred editor is probably less common, especially on Windows: Emacs. I have been using it for more than 20 years and with the right add-ons (AUCTeX and RefTeX) it is still the best LaTeX editor for me. Would I recommend it to someone today who does not already know how to use Emacs? Probably not, given the learning curve. But in the late 1990s there was no real alternative on Linux. And LaTeX on Linux it had be for creating high-quality graphics with Xfig and replace text in the EPS files with full-blown LaTeX code for amazing formulas etc.

But let’s go back to the present time. Here is what I did:

  • Download Windows installer for TeX Live
  • Start installer with administrator rights (right-click) and accept all default settings, then wait a really long time (more than three hours on an old Lenovo Thinkpad T520)
  • Install Emacs. I still have EmacsW32 lying around (you need to fix some security settings), but it is no longer available for download. If you look for an alternative, perhaps you find something here.
  • Install Sumatra PDF. The critical feature for me is that it does not hold a write-lock on the file. So when the output PDF is updated in the background by latexmk, it does not cause any problems. I did the installation as administrator and changed the location to C:\Program Files\SumatraPDF because I personally prefer it that way.

That’s all. Enjoy writing 🙂

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