Default TeXLive is well above a GB of stuff, and a very full install is above 4 GB. That’s a lot! It also means a lot of packages to update, a lot of data allowance to use. Now, I don’t want to go too far the other way, and I don’t want to spend ages sorting this out, so:
Can I install a medium-sized system that will be highly usable but not so enormous? Can I do it without rolling my sleeves up? (The answer is of course ‘yes’.)
It’s more a question of wanting to contain the size of the updates — there’s no lack of disk space on modern machines.
For context, MS Office Pro 2010 (Word, Excel, PPT, all the other tools I don’t use etc) comes out at about 800 MB. LibreOffice specifies ‘up to 1.5 GB’, which is also rather a lot.
Step 1 — got the netinstaller
https://www.tug.org/texlive/acquire-netinstall.html
and for windows
http://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet/install-tl-windows.exe
Step 2 — ran it (not as admin) and clicked Advanced
Under Selections, clicked the Scheme: Change button. Chose basic scheme (plain and latex)
(Can use Customize to be more fine-grained — add in a few things you know you want, esp. localisations, but I did not.)
Said it wants about 400 MB.
Go!
See end of post for a list of packages it installed.
Then it said:
See C:/texlive/2020/index.html for links to documentation.
The TeX Live web site (https://tug.org/texlive/) contains any updates and corrections.
TeX Live is a joint project of the TeX user groups around the world; please consider
supporting it by joining the group best for you. The list of groups is available on
the web at https://tug.org/usergroups.html.
Step 3 — a test
Opened a CMD.EXE window and checked that the path now included the tex binaries:
C:\>path
PATH=C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\texlive\2020\bin\win32
OK, so … copy the sample document into some working directory and try it out:
C:\>cd \Users\username\Documents
C:\Users\username\Documents>copy \texlive\2020\texmf-dist\tex\latex\base\sample2e.tex
C:\Users\username\Documents>latex sample2e
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.21 (TeX Live 2020/W32TeX) (preloaded format=latex)
restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(./sample2e.tex
LaTeX2e patch level 5
L3 programming layer
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2019/12/20 v1.4l Standard LaTeX document class
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size10.clo))
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/l3backend/l3backend-dvips.def)
No file sample2e.aux.
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/omscmr.fd) [1] [2] [3]
(./sample2e.aux) )
Output written on sample2e.dvi (3 pages, 7568 bytes).
Transcript written on sample2e.log.
View the DVI file:
C:\Users\username\Documents>dviout sample2e
Make a PostScript file:
C:\Users\username\Documents>dvips sample2e
This is dvips(k) 2020.1 Copyright 2020 Radical Eye Software (www.radicaleye.com)
' TeX output 2020.09.01:0934' -> sample2e.ps
<c:/Users/username/.texlive2020/texmf-var/fonts/pk/ljfour/jknappen/ec/tcrm1000.600
pk>.[1][2][3]
View the PostScript file:
C:\Users\username\Documents>psviewer sample2e.ps
(Opens it in Acrobat Reader, which is already installed on this machine; I don’t know what happens if it’s not installed.)
Or make a PDF the modern way:
C:\Users\username\Documents>pdflatex sample2e
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.21 (TeX Live 2020/W32TeX) (preloaded format=pdflatex)
restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(./sample2e.tex
LaTeX2e patch level 5
L3 programming layer
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2019/12/20 v1.4l Standard LaTeX document class
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size10.clo))
(c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/l3backend/l3backend-pdfmode.def)
(./sample2e.aux) (c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/omscmr.fd) [1{c:/te
xlive/2020/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map}] [2] [3]
(./sample2e.aux) ) <c:/Users/username/.texlive2020/texmf-var/fonts/pk/ljfour/jkna
ppen/ec/tcrm1000.600pk><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/
cm/cmbx12.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmex10
.pfb><c:/
texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi7.pfb><c:/texlive/20
20/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr10.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-d
ist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr12.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/
type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr17.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/publ
ic/amsfonts/cm/cmr6.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts
/cm/cmr7.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr8.pf
b><c:/tex
live/2020/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmsy7.pfb><c:/texlive/2020/
texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmti10.pfb>
Output written on sample2e.pdf (3 pages, 137016 bytes).
Transcript written on sample2e.log.
View the PDF
C:\Users\username\Documents>psviewer sample2e.pdf
OK.
Step 4 — modifying and updating the installation
C:\Users\username\Documents>tlmgr --help | more
(screens and screen of output — key things are…)
C:\Users\username\Documents>tlmgr --gui
Please use tlshell as a GUI for tlmgr
C:\Users\username\Documents>tlshell
(Which works)
The command line tlmgr or the GUI can be used to search for and install missing packages, to update the installation and so on.
Step 5 — how big on disk?
As regards the size on disk of the texlive tree Windows properties says
Size: 389 MiB
Size on disk: 413 MiB
So, it is big, but not incredibly enormous, although of course it will only get bigger as functionality is added.
jkghbgegftc
The packages:
Installing to: C:/texlive/2020
Installing [001/131, time/total: ??:??/??:??]: texlive.infra [421k]
Installing [002/131, time/total: 00:03/17:17]: texlive.infra.win32 [2667k]
Installing [003/131, time/total: 00:05/03:55]: tlperl.win32 [6816k]
Installing [004/131, time/total: 00:22/05:23]: ae [84k]
Installing [005/131, time/total: 00:24/05:49]: amscls [1437k]
Installing [006/131, time/total: 00:27/05:44]: amsfonts [4725k]
Installing [007/131, time/total: 00:39/05:51]: amsmath [2401k]
Installing [008/131, time/total: 00:43/05:37]: atbegshi [409k]
Installing [009/131, time/total: 00:45/05:45]: atveryend [380k]
Installing [010/131, time/total: 00:47/05:53]: auxhook [286k]
Installing [011/131, time/total: 00:49/06:03]: babel [1580k]And these tools will allow pacakges to be added as needed.
Installing [012/131, time/total: 00:58/06:38]: babel-english [137k]
Installing [013/131, time/total: 01:00/06:49]: babelbib [1168k]
Installing [014/131, time/total: 01:03/06:47]: bibtex [404k]
Installing [015/131, time/total: 01:04/06:46]: bibtex.win32 [41k]
Installing [016/131, time/total: 01:04/06:45]: bigintcalc [467k]
Installing [017/131, time/total: 01:06/06:50]: bitset [622k]
Installing [018/131, time/total: 01:08/06:51]: bookmark [481k]
Installing [019/131, time/total: 01:11/07:01]: carlisle [85k]
Installing [020/131, time/total: 01:13/07:11]: cm [235k]
Installing [021/131, time/total: 01:15/07:19]: collection-basic [1k]
Installing [022/131, time/total: 01:16/07:25]: collection-latex [1k]
Installing [023/131, time/total: 01:16/07:25]: collection-wintools [1k]
Installing [024/131, time/total: 01:17/07:31]: colorprofiles [113k]
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Installing [026/131, time/total: 01:19/07:30]: dehyph [46k]
Installing [027/131, time/total: 01:21/07:40]: dviout.win32 [2183k]
Installing [028/131, time/total: 01:25/07:25]: dvipdfmx [3080k]
Installing [029/131, time/total: 01:27/06:50]: dvipdfmx.win32 [315k]
Installing [030/131, time/total: 01:28/06:51]: dvips [566k]
Installing [031/131, time/total: 01:30/06:52]: dvips.win32 [92k]
Installing [032/131, time/total: 01:31/06:56]: ec [280k]
Installing [033/131, time/total: 01:39/07:28]: enctex [272k]
Installing [034/131, time/total: 01:41/07:34]: epstopdf-pkg [362k]
Installing [035/131, time/total: 01:43/07:38]: etex [197k]And these tools will allow pacakges to be added as needed.
Installing [036/131, time/total: 01:44/07:39]: etex-pkg [7k]
Installing [037/131, time/total: 01:45/07:44]: etexcmds [302k]
Installing [038/131, time/total: 01:47/07:48]: fancyhdr [741k]
Installing [039/131, time/total: 01:49/07:46]: fix2col [217k]
Installing [040/131, time/total: 01:50/07:48]: geometry [900k]
Installing [041/131, time/total: 01:53/07:48]: gettitlestring [320k]
Installing [042/131, time/total: 01:54/07:48]: glyphlist [25k]
Installing [043/131, time/total: 01:54/07:48]: graphics [2007k]
Installing [044/131, time/total: 01:58/07:38]: graphics-cfg [2k]
Installing [045/131, time/total: 01:58/07:38]: graphics-def [13k]
Installing [046/131, time/total: 01:59/07:42]: grfext [310k]
Installing [047/131, time/total: 02:01/07:46]: grffile [357k]
Installing [048/131, time/total: 02:03/07:49]: hopatch [305k]
Installing [049/131, time/total: 02:04/07:49]: hycolor [380k]
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Installing [051/131, time/total: 02:09/07:21]: hyph-utf8 [312k]
Installing [052/131, time/total: 02:12/07:28]: hyphen-base [22k]
Installing [053/131, time/total: 02:13/07:31]: hyphenex [187k]
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Installing [055/131, time/total: 02:16/07:37]: iftex [217k]
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Installing [057/131, time/total: 02:19/07:42]: intcalc [431k]
Installing [058/131, time/total: 02:20/07:41]: knuth-lib [30k]
Installing [059/131, time/total: 02:21/07:44]: knuth-local [23k]
Installing [060/131, time/total: 02:22/07:47]: kpathsea [1074k]
Installing [061/131, time/total: 02:24/07:42]: kpathsea.win32 [476k]
Installing [062/131, time/total: 02:25/07:41]: kvdefinekeys [297k]
Installing [063/131, time/total: 02:26/07:41]: kvoptions [496k]
Installing [064/131, time/total: 02:28/07:42]: kvsetkeys [378k]
Installing [065/131, time/total: 02:30/07:45]: l3backend [39k]
Installing [066/131, time/total: 02:31/07:47]: l3kernel [10455k]
Installing [067/131, time/total: 02:38/06:40]: l3packages [1825k]
Installing [068/131, time/total: 02:40/06:32]: latex [17858k]
Installing [069/131, time/total: 02:52/05:24]: latex-bin [69k]
Installing [070/131, time/total: 02:52/05:24]: latex-bin.win32 [1k]
Installing [071/131, time/total: 02:53/05:26]: latex-fonts [19k]
Installing [072/131, time/total: 02:54/05:28]: latexconfig [4k]
Installing [073/131, time/total: 02:55/05:29]: letltxmacro [292k]
Installing [074/131, time/total: 02:56/05:30]: lm [17956k]
Installing [075/131, time/total: 03:17/05:00]: ltxcmds [397k]
Installing [076/131, time/total: 03:19/05:02]: ltxmisc [16k]
Installing [077/131, time/total: 03:20/05:03]: lua-alt-getopt [6k]
Installing [078/131, time/total: 03:22/05:06]: luahbtex [30k]
Installing [079/131, time/total: 03:23/05:08]: luahbtex.win32 [1517k]
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Installing [081/131, time/total: 03:26/05:07]: luaotfload [1136k]
Installing [082/131, time/total: 03:32/05:12]: luaotfload.win32 [1k]
Installing [083/131, time/total: 03:33/05:13]: luatex [1867k]
Installing [084/131, time/total: 03:35/05:10]: luatex.win32 [1777k]
Installing [085/131, time/total: 03:37/05:08]: makeindex [460k]
Installing [086/131, time/total: 03:38/05:08]: makeindex.win32 [18k]
Installing [087/131, time/total: 03:39/05:09]: metafont [80k]
Installing [088/131, time/total: 03:39/05:09]: metafont.win32 [142k]
Installing [089/131, time/total: 03:40/05:10]: mflogo [242k]
Installing [090/131, time/total: 03:45/05:16]: mfnfss [458k]
Installing [091/131, time/total: 03:48/05:19]: mfware [102k]
Installing [092/131, time/total: 03:52/05:24]: mfware.win32 [58k]
Installing [093/131, time/total: 03:52/05:24]: modes [294k]
Installing [094/131, time/total: 03:54/05:26]: mptopdf [51k]
Installing [095/131, time/total: 03:55/05:27]: mptopdf.win32 [1k]
Installing [096/131, time/total: 03:55/05:27]: natbib [493k]
Installing [097/131, time/total: 03:57/05:29]: oberdiek [9106k]
Installing [098/131, time/total: 04:04/05:11]: pagesel [334k]
Installing [099/131, time/total: 04:05/05:12]: pdfescape [347k]
Installing [100/131, time/total: 04:07/05:13]: pdftex [1610k]
Installing [101/131, time/total: 04:10/05:13]: pdftex.win32 [693k]
Installing [102/131, time/total: 04:10/05:11]: pdftexcmds [391k]
Installing [103/131, time/total: 04:12/05:12]: plain [70k]
Installing [104/131, time/total: 04:13/05:13]: pslatex [7k]
Installing [105/131, time/total: 04:13/05:13]: psnfss [275k]
Installing [106/131, time/total: 04:16/05:16]: pspicture [50k]
Installing [107/131, time/total: 04:17/05:17]: refcount [329k]
Installing [108/131, time/total: 04:19/05:19]: rerunfilecheck [317k]
Installing [109/131, time/total: 04:20/05:19]: stringenc [702k]
Installing [110/131, time/total: 04:22/05:20]: symbol [36k]
Installing [111/131, time/total: 04:22/05:20]: tex [77k]
Installing [112/131, time/total: 04:23/05:21]: tex-ini-files [5k]
Installing [113/131, time/total: 04:24/05:22]: tex.win32 [130k]
Installing [114/131, time/total: 04:25/05:23]: texlive-common [502k]
Installing [115/131, time/total: 04:26/05:23]: texlive-docindex [165k]
Installing [116/131, time/total: 04:27/05:24]: texlive-en [1848k]
Installing [117/131, time/total: 04:29/05:21]: texlive-msg-translations [138k]
Installing [118/131, time/total: 04:30/05:22]: texlive-scripts [343k]
Installing [119/131, time/total: 04:32/05:23]: texlive-scripts.win32 [36k]
Installing [120/131, time/total: 04:33/05:24]: tlgs.win32 [6677k]
Installing [121/131, time/total: 04:41/05:17]: tlpsv.win32 [1411k]
Installing [122/131, time/total: 04:42/05:14]: tlshell [27k]
Installing [123/131, time/total: 04:43/05:15]: tlshell.win32 [2599k]
Installing [124/131, time/total: 04:56/05:23]: tools [5355k]
Installing [125/131, time/total: 05:01/05:16]: unicode-data [289k]
Installing [126/131, time/total: 05:02/05:17]: uniquecounter [292k]
Installing [127/131, time/total: 05:04/05:18]: updmap-map [304k]
Installing [128/131, time/total: 05:05/05:18]: url [266k]
Installing [129/131, time/total: 05:07/05:20]: wintools.win32 [5825k]
Installing [130/131, time/total: 05:14/05:14]: xdvi [175k]
Installing [131/131, time/total: 05:15/05:15]: zapfding [46k]
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