How to install LaTex on Ubuntu or Debian

Last updated on October 8, 2020 by Dan Nanni

LaTex is a document markup language for the Tex typesetting program. Due to its high quality typesetting capability, LaTex/TeX system is popularly used in academia and research communities to prepare professional looking documentations and research papers.

If you would like to use LaTeX on Ubuntu or Debian, you can install Tex Live, which is the default TeX distribution on such systems.

Install Tex Live on Ubuntu or Debian

To install Tex Live, run the following. This will install bare essential TeX-related programs.

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-base biblatex

On Ubuntu 14.10 or later, the biblatex package no longer exists. Thus, install the following packages instead.

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-base texlive-bibtex-extra

In addition to bare minimum Tex programs, you will probably want to install extra macro packages and LaTex fonts in order to write up a decent article.

For fonts used in LaTex:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-fonts-recommended

For miscellaneous other fonts such as kpfonts:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-fonts-extra

To use pdflatex:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base

For subfigure support:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-extra

For other LaTex style files such as float.sty etc:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-recommended

For various algorithm-related packages such as algorithm.sty and algorithmic.sty:

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-science

If you prefer using a dedicated LaTex editor with a graphical interface, instead of working with LaTex language directly, I recommend you try LyX editor.

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