TeXLive distribution and macports

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Sep 9, 2018, at 10:23, Christopher Jones wrote:

> Note that MacPorts has a policy of not using external libraries, as far as possible (apart from obvious system ones) so if you aim is to have a port that basically allows something externally externally to pretend to be something MacPorts provides, then no this is strictly not allowed. See for instance
> 
> https://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ#ownlibs
> 
> its the same deal as why we do not support using anything installed outside of MacPorts, from /usr/local

TeXLive is an exception to this rule. Users who wish to use the MacTeX TeXLive distribution instead of the one in MacPorts should edit /opt/local/etc/macports/macports.conf and add /Library/TeX/texbin to binpath.

Ports that are ok with using MacTeX instead will have declared their dependencies in such a way (using the bin: specification instead of the port: specification) that MacTeX versions will satisfy them.

If you have MacPorts set up in this way, and you install a port, and it still pulls in MacPorts texlive ports, then either those ports' dependencies need to be fixed to use bin: instead of port:, or there is a specific reason why those ports can't do it that way.