The first thing you'll want to do is look at Thomas Esser's
README
file. It contains a lot of hints on how to configure
teTeX for your output device (i.e., printer). The README
file is located in the directory
/usr/lib/teTeX/texmf/doc/tetexRead the file over with the command (the path in the following examples is that of the Slackware distribution):
less /usr/lib/teTeX/texmf/doc/tetex/READMEor, print it out with the command
cat /usr/lib/teTeX/texmf/doc/tetex/README >/dev/lp0assuming that your printer is connected to
/dev/lp0
.
Substitute the device driver file that your printer is connected to,
as appropriate.
Or, better still, print it using the lpr(1)
command:
lpr /usr/lib/teTeX/texmf/doc/tetex/READMEYou should have installed the printer daemon that is included with your distribution of Linux. If not, do that now, per the instructions that come with the package. If you don't have one of the packages, or want to install a printer daemon yourself, see section The lpd(8) daemon
Print out the teTeX-FAQ.
Keep the FAQ handy because it
contains useful hints for configuring teTeX's output drivers for your
printer. We'll get to that in a moment. In more recent releases of
teTeX, the teTeX-FAQ
is viewable via the texconfig
utility.
Next, you want to define a directory to store your own TeX
format files. teTeX searches the directories listed by the
$TEXINPUTS
environment variable for local TeX input
files. On Chanel3, I added the line
export TEXINPUTS=".:~/texinputs:"to the system-wide
/etc/profile
file. Individual users can
set their own local $TEXINPUTS
directory, by adding
the line in their ~/.profile
or
~/.bash_profile
if bash(1)
is the default
shell. The $TEXINPUTS
environment variable tells
teTeX to look for users' individual TeX style files in the
~/texinputs
directories under each user's home
directory. It is critical that a colon appear before and
after this directory. teTeX is going to append its own directory
searches to your own. You want to have teTeX search the local format
files first, so it uses the local versions of any of the standard
files you have edited.
Add the /usr/lib/teTeX/bin
directory to the system-wide path
if you're installing teTeX as root. Again, if you're installing a
personal copy of teTeX, add the directory where the teTeX binaries are
located to the front your $PATH
with the
following line in your ~/.profile
or
~/.bash_profile
:
export PATH="~/tetex/bin:"$PATHNow, log in as
root
and run texconfig
per the
instructions in the teTeX-FAQ
and choose the printer that is
attached to your system. Make sure that you configure teTeX for both
the correct printer and printer resolution.
Finally, run the texhash
program. This ensures that teTeX's
internal database is up to date. The database is actually a
ls-lR
file. You must run texhash
every
time you change the system configuration, or teTeX will not be able to
locate your changes.
The teTeX distribution comes with only a limited selection of DVI
output drivers: dvips(1)
, drivers for Hewlett Packard
LaserJets, and nothing else. You have two options if you have a
printer which isn't LaserJet-compatible: You can use dvips(1)
and Ghostscript, which I would recommend anyway, for reasons already
mentioned, or you can investigate other dviware sources.
A limited number of DVI drivers have been ported to Linux and are available as pre-built binaries. They are located in the Linux archives at ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/tex/dvi/.
The master dviware libraries are maintained at the University of Utah archives. If you can't find a DVI driver there that supports your printer, chances are that it doesn't exist. You can also write your own DVI driver using the templates available there. The library's URL is ftp://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/dvi/.