Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Nathan Neff]

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After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.

*** I quiver when I see errors such as:

warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these
directories:
/usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux)
(preloaded format=pdflatex)

kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
mktexfmt: No such file or directory
I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!

*** I run for cover when I read documentation such as:

https://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-Export.html#LaTeX-Export

I think people who have been using LaTex and related tools for a long time
have
no issue with this (seemingly) insurmountable feat.  However, I am not
familiar with
such a myriad of tools and I'm simply looking for the "easiest" way to
convert/export an org
mode file to PDF on Linux.

Can anyone point me to some tutorials?  I'm sorry if I miss something
obvious.

Thanks,
--Nate

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Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Marcin Borkowski]

On 2019-11-11, at 01:00, Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com> wrote:

> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
>
> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
>
> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these
> directories:
> /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux)
> (preloaded format=pdflatex)
>
> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!

This looks like a broken installation of TeXlive to me, although I'm
definitely not an expert on kpathsea or mktexfmt.

Another conjecture is that Arch's TeXlive needs some environment
variable which is only set for interactive sessions.  (This would be
strange.)  This is a very long shot, but what would happen if you
compiled a short, hello-world-type LaTeX document in the console?  Would
Org-mode export work after this?

Also, what does this: ~set | grep ^TEX~ say in a console?  And in M-x
shell?

For my way, see below.

> *** I run for cover when I read documentation such as:
>
> https://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-Export.html#LaTeX-Export
>
> I think people who have been using LaTex and related tools for a long time
> have
> no issue with this (seemingly) insurmountable feat.  However, I am not
> familiar with
> such a myriad of tools and I'm simply looking for the "easiest" way to
> convert/export an org
> mode file to PDF on Linux.
>
> Can anyone point me to some tutorials?  I'm sorry if I miss something
> obvious.

I've been using pdf export many times without any problems.

My secret is using TeXlive from the TeXlive distribution, not from my
GNU/Linux distribution.  (Last time I checked, Ubuntu's TeXlive was
hopelessly out of date.  Even though I've been using Arch for a few
years now, I still install TeXlive from https://tug.org/texlive/ .  One
big advantage of that is that the installer lets me install only stuff
I need, and if I later decide that I need something more, I can install
even an individual class/package/font/whatever.  Another plus is that
I can easily install a few versions of TeXlive and e.g. develop my
classes with the latest one, but test them also on an older version.)

Also, the installer lets me put TeXlive in my home directory, so it can
be installed even without root privileges.

Hth,

--
Marcin Borkowski
http://mbork.pl

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[John Hendy]

On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:01 PM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
>
> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
>
> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these directories: /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
>
> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!

These look like latex errors to me, nothing to do with Org. Guessing
you used the arch package? I'm on arch myself, but after getting
bitten by package mismatches and things being hopelessly broken, I
switched to just using texlive directly:
- https://www.tug.org/texlive/

It's not that bad. There's even a quick guide to walk you through the
tl-install script. If you'd rather troubleshoot what you have going on
now, here's some places to start:
- you're missing files... figure out which package is supposed to
provide them and install it
- check your paths
- google the error and see what you find

> *** I run for cover when I read documentation such as:
>
> https://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-Export.html#LaTeX-Export
>
> I think people who have been using LaTex and related tools for a long time have
> no issue with this (seemingly) insurmountable feat.  However, I am not familiar with
> such a myriad of tools and I'm simply looking for the "easiest" way to convert/export an org
> mode file to PDF on Linux.

I would save this for last. For now, just take your document and
export to the .tex file (don't compile). Then go to a command line and
do:

$ pdflatex ./file.tex

and see what happens. Until you can do that manually, nothing from the
Org side will help you. In fact, Org just assumes that this stuff
exists, spits out the right .tex file based on your markdown, and
leverages the existing latex system utilities to process it. This will
end up being that you don't have a functioning latex setup on your
system, and thus Org can't work its magic.


John

>
> Can anyone point me to some tutorials?  I'm sorry if I miss something obvious.
>
> Thanks,
> --Nate

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Marcin Borkowski]

On 2019-11-11, at 01:25, John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:01 PM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
>> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
>>
>> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
>>
>> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these directories: /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
>> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
>>
>> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
>> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
>> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!
>
> These look like latex errors to me, nothing to do with Org. Guessing

These are not LaTeX errors, they are lower-level ones.

> you used the arch package? I'm on arch myself, but after getting
> bitten by package mismatches and things being hopelessly broken, I
> switched to just using texlive directly:
> - https://www.tug.org/texlive/
>
> It's not that bad. There's even a quick guide to walk you through the
> tl-install script. If you'd rather troubleshoot what you have going on
> now, here's some places to start:
> - you're missing files... figure out which package is supposed to
> provide them and install it

He misses LaTeX format file itself, and apparently mktexfmt (which
should create it) cannot be found.  This seems more serious than what
you write.

> - check your paths

Agreed, but this may be quite subtle...

Best,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://mbork.pl

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[John Hendy]

On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:41 PM Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> wrote:
>
>
> On 2019-11-11, at 01:25, John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:01 PM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
> >> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
> >>
> >> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
> >>
> >> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these directories: /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
> >> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
> >>
> >> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
> >> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
> >> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!
> >
> > These look like latex errors to me, nothing to do with Org. Guessing
>
> These are not LaTeX errors, they are lower-level ones.

By "LaTeX" I mean "that which is necessary to have a functioning latex
system." If by lower-level you mean the ecosystem itself vs. compiling
errors, completely agree. Clearly some core components are missing.
For example, the texmf.cnf file is provided by the arch package
texlive-core (assuming a package was used), so that's potentially not
even installed.
- https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/texlive-core/

> > you used the arch package? I'm on arch myself, but after getting
> > bitten by package mismatches and things being hopelessly broken, I
> > switched to just using texlive directly:
> > - https://www.tug.org/texlive/
> >
> > It's not that bad. There's even a quick guide to walk you through the
> > tl-install script. If you'd rather troubleshoot what you have going on
> > now, here's some places to start:
> > - you're missing files... figure out which package is supposed to
> > provide them and install it
>
> He misses LaTeX format file itself, and apparently mktexfmt (which
> should create it) cannot be found.  This seems more serious than what
> you write.

I would divide "serious" into "major but simple" and "complicated." In
easily 90% of cases with error output like this, it's going to be a
missing package, not some intricate system glitch that requires
troubleshooting. Indeed, my guess is exactly that: there are "serious"
errors because nothing resembling a functioning latex system exists.
The root cause is probably very simple.

> > - check your paths
>
> Agreed, but this may be quite subtle...

Again, I suspect much simpler. When using texlive directly, for
example, one has to set paths correctly. This If it's looking in
system paths vs. a user path (e.g. I install to ~/.texlive, not /usr)
and this was not set via .bashrc, that's what I mean one should check.
This presumes the expected packages are installed at all.

I would start with simply:

$ pacman -Q |grep tex

and

$ which pdflatex

John

>
> Best,
>
> --
> Marcin Borkowski
> http://mbork.pl

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Jack Kamm]

John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> writes:

> By "LaTeX" I mean "that which is necessary to have a functioning latex
> system." If by lower-level you mean the ecosystem itself vs. compiling
> errors, completely agree. Clearly some core components are missing.
> For example, the texmf.cnf file is provided by the arch package
> texlive-core (assuming a package was used), so that's potentially not
> even installed.
> - https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/texlive-core/

I would also suggest referring to
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/TeX_Live#Installation for the
packages to install on Arch. I myself am using Archlinux-packaged TeX
Live without any issues. I believe I installed "texlive-most",
"texlive-lang", and "biber", which are the 3 main packages/groups
recommended by the wiki.

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Alan E. Davis]

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Arch linux has a package, aside from any arch directly installed
individualized texlive packages, that just installs the texlive network
install script, and directs the user to run the script that is located in
/opt .

This piece of magic is "texlive-installer",   available in the Arch Users
Repository (AUR), makes it easier to use texlive from upstream sources, by
doing the necessary work of handling dependencies.   Debian based distros
require to install a dummy package to accomplish this, and some kind of
tweaking may be necessary on other distros.  Once AUR is set up, I have run
"yay -S texlive-installer" or one may use other AUR helpers.   I think it's
not possible to install this with pacman.

As far as this problem of the OP, I cannot help.

Alan Davis

On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 12:13 PM Jack Kamm <jackkamm@gmail.com> wrote:

> John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > By "LaTeX" I mean "that which is necessary to have a functioning latex
> > system." If by lower-level you mean the ecosystem itself vs. compiling
> > errors, completely agree. Clearly some core components are missing.
> > For example, the texmf.cnf file is provided by the arch package
> > texlive-core (assuming a package was used), so that's potentially not
> > even installed.
> > - https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/texlive-core/
>
> I would also suggest referring to
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/TeX_Live#Installation for the
> packages to install on Arch. I myself am using Archlinux-packaged TeX
> Live without any issues. I believe I installed "texlive-most",
> "texlive-lang", and "biber", which are the 3 main packages/groups
> recommended by the wiki.
>
>

-- 
[Fill in the blanks]

The use of corrupt manipulations and blatant rhetorical ploys ...---
outright lying, flagwaving, personal attacks, setting up phony
alternatives, misdirection, jargon-mongering, evading key issues, feigning
disinterested objectivity, willful misunderstanding of other points of
view---suggests that ... lacks both credibility and evidence.

             ---- Edward Tufte (in context of making presentations)

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Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Alan Tyree]

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I don't know if this helps, but I am running Manjaro, using the repository
packages and have no problem with export. The installed texlive packages
are:

texlive-bin
texlive-core
texlive-humanities
texlive-latexextra

I have no problems with either org export or any pandoc conversions.

Cheers,
Alan

On Tue, 12 Nov 2019 at 07:26, Alan E. Davis <lngndvs@gmail.com> wrote:

> Arch linux has a package, aside from any arch directly installed
> individualized texlive packages, that just installs the texlive network
> install script, and directs the user to run the script that is located in
> /opt .
>
> This piece of magic is "texlive-installer",   available in the Arch Users
> Repository (AUR), makes it easier to use texlive from upstream sources, by
> doing the necessary work of handling dependencies.   Debian based distros
> require to install a dummy package to accomplish this, and some kind of
> tweaking may be necessary on other distros.  Once AUR is set up, I have run
> "yay -S texlive-installer" or one may use other AUR helpers.   I think it's
> not possible to install this with pacman.
>
> As far as this problem of the OP, I cannot help.
>
> Alan Davis
>
> On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 12:13 PM Jack Kamm <jackkamm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>> > By "LaTeX" I mean "that which is necessary to have a functioning latex
>> > system." If by lower-level you mean the ecosystem itself vs. compiling
>> > errors, completely agree. Clearly some core components are missing.
>> > For example, the texmf.cnf file is provided by the arch package
>> > texlive-core (assuming a package was used), so that's potentially not
>> > even installed.
>> > - https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/texlive-core/
>>
>> I would also suggest referring to
>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/TeX_Live#Installation for the
>> packages to install on Arch. I myself am using Archlinux-packaged TeX
>> Live without any issues. I believe I installed "texlive-most",
>> "texlive-lang", and "biber", which are the 3 main packages/groups
>> recommended by the wiki.
>>
>>
>
> --
> [Fill in the blanks]
>
> The use of corrupt manipulations and blatant rhetorical ploys ...---
> outright lying, flagwaving, personal attacks, setting up phony
> alternatives, misdirection, jargon-mongering, evading key issues, feigning
> disinterested objectivity, willful misunderstanding of other points of
> view---suggests that ... lacks both credibility and evidence.
>
>              ---- Edward Tufte (in context of making presentations)
>
>
>


-- 
Alan L Tyree                    http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan

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Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Tim Cross]

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This looks like an incomplete textLive install to me.

On many distributions, texlive is broken up into a number of smaller
packages. You need to ensure you have installed the texlive latex packages.

I would follow the advice of others and just use the package from the
texlive site.



On Mon, 11 Nov 2019 at 11:41, Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> wrote:

>
> On 2019-11-11, at 01:25, John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:01 PM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
> >> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
> >>
> >> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
> >>
> >> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these
> directories:
> /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
> >> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch
> Linux) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
> >>
> >> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
> >> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
> >> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!
> >
> > These look like latex errors to me, nothing to do with Org. Guessing
>
> These are not LaTeX errors, they are lower-level ones.
>
> > you used the arch package? I'm on arch myself, but after getting
> > bitten by package mismatches and things being hopelessly broken, I
> > switched to just using texlive directly:
> > - https://www.tug.org/texlive/
> >
> > It's not that bad. There's even a quick guide to walk you through the
> > tl-install script. If you'd rather troubleshoot what you have going on
> > now, here's some places to start:
> > - you're missing files... figure out which package is supposed to
> > provide them and install it
>
> He misses LaTeX format file itself, and apparently mktexfmt (which
> should create it) cannot be found.  This seems more serious than what
> you write.
>
> > - check your paths
>
> Agreed, but this may be quite subtle...
>
> Best,
>
> --
> Marcin Borkowski
> http://mbork.pl
>
>

-- 
regards,

Tim

--
Tim Cross

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Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Samuel Wales]

there is also pandoc, if you know something that you can export to
that pandoc can reasonably convert.  like, who knows, html or
something.

this might be useful if you are in a hurry or you don't want to
install a non-distribution package or whatever.


On 11/10/19, Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com> wrote:
> This looks like an incomplete textLive install to me.
>
> On many distributions, texlive is broken up into a number of smaller
> packages. You need to ensure you have installed the texlive latex packages.
>
> I would follow the advice of others and just use the package from the
> texlive site.
>
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Nov 2019 at 11:41, Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 2019-11-11, at 01:25, John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 6:01 PM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
>> >> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
>> >>
>> >> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
>> >>
>> >> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these
>> directories:
>> /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
>> >> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch
>> Linux) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
>> >>
>> >> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
>> >> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
>> >> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!
>> >
>> > These look like latex errors to me, nothing to do with Org. Guessing
>>
>> These are not LaTeX errors, they are lower-level ones.
>>
>> > you used the arch package? I'm on arch myself, but after getting
>> > bitten by package mismatches and things being hopelessly broken, I
>> > switched to just using texlive directly:
>> > - https://www.tug.org/texlive/
>> >
>> > It's not that bad. There's even a quick guide to walk you through the
>> > tl-install script. If you'd rather troubleshoot what you have going on
>> > now, here's some places to start:
>> > - you're missing files... figure out which package is supposed to
>> > provide them and install it
>>
>> He misses LaTeX format file itself, and apparently mktexfmt (which
>> should create it) cannot be found.  This seems more serious than what
>> you write.
>>
>> > - check your paths
>>
>> Agreed, but this may be quite subtle...
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> --
>> Marcin Borkowski
>> http://mbork.pl
>>
>>
>
> --
> regards,
>
> Tim
>
> --
> Tim Cross
>


-- 
The Kafka Pandemic

What is misopathy?
https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-some-diseases-are-wronged.html

The disease DOES progress. MANY people have died from it. And ANYBODY
can get it at any time.

Re: Publish to PDF on Linux: An impossible task?

[Diego Zamboni]

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Hi Nate,

As others have said, your problem sounds more like a broken TeXlive
install, I would highly recommend installing the official distribution.

However, even with a proper working LaTeX install, the output from the
plain LaTeX exporter can be underwhelming, particularly if you want things
to look "pretty". Things like syntax highlighting need to still be
configured manually. If you don't know LaTeX, it can be quite a task.

One shortcut I found (although I don't use this actively) is to export to
reStructuredText using ox-rst (https://github.com/kandread/ox-rst), and
then use Sphinx (http://www.sphinx-doc.org/
<http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/quickstart.html>) to produce
PDF. Sphinx has a pleasing default theme which includes syntax highlighting
and other nice formatting touches. Sphinx requires some initial setup but
it's not too complicated. Mind you: you still need a working LaTeX install,
as this is what Sphinx uses in the backend.

Hope this helps,
--Diego


On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 1:01 AM Nathan Neff <nathan.neff@gmail.com> wrote:

> After using org-mode for 10 years, I run for the doorway when
> I even think about trying to convert an org-mode file to PDF.
>
> *** I quiver when I see errors such as:
>
> warning: kpathsea: configuration file texmf.cnf not found in these
> directories:
> /usr/bin:/usr/bin/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/bin/texmf/web2c:/usr:/usr/share/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/share/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/share/texmf/web2c:/usr/texmf-local/web2c:/usr/texmf-dist/web2c:/usr/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c:/://share/texmf-local/web2c://share/texmf-dist/web2c://share/texmf/web2c://texmf-local/web2c://texmf-dist/web2c://texmf/web2c.
> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.20 (TeX Live 2019/Arch Linux)
> (preloaded format=pdflatex)
>
> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt pdflatex.fmt
> mktexfmt: No such file or directory
> I can't find the format file `pdflatex.fmt'!
>
> *** I run for cover when I read documentation such as:
>
> https://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-Export.html#LaTeX-Export
>
> I think people who have been using LaTex and related tools for a long time
> have
> no issue with this (seemingly) insurmountable feat.  However, I am not
> familiar with
> such a myriad of tools and I'm simply looking for the "easiest" way to
> convert/export an org
> mode file to PDF on Linux.
>
> Can anyone point me to some tutorials?  I'm sorry if I miss something
> obvious.
>
> Thanks,
> --Nate
>

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