MacTex vs MacPorts

[Sam Kuper]

On 1 October 2011 05:11, Scott Webster <sewebster at gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't claim to have all the answers, but recently when I had to
> compile a "new" latex document I got from a colleague I found that it
> was not compatible with the macports versions.  So I installed
> MacTex2011.  It has a great prefpane to let you switch which tex
> distribution you want to have active (macports/mactex etc.).  You can
> also choose exactly what you want to install when you install it.  So
> I chose not to install ghostscript for instance, because I already had
> it via macports.
>
> I'm writing off my memory so hopefully I'm not too wrong, but in
> general it seems they can coexist reasonably well.  If I only needed a
> few latex things I would probably just use macports, but I'm writing a
> thesis in latex right now and find the selection in MacTex helpful.
> In your case you might want to wipe out your (likely obsolete) MacTex
> and then only install the newer one if you need it... and when you do,
> customize the install to not interfere with macports.

A very belated reply, but many thanks to you and others who answered my query.

I got rid of the old version of MacTex I had installed, and in the
process I became unimpressed with the uninstallation procedure MacTex
provides.

For the time being I'm going to see how I get on with the default
Macports TexLive installation plus whichever MacPorts packages the
page at https://trac.macports.org/wiki/TeXLivePackages tells me are
necessary for the TeX packages I want.

Regards,

Sam