This section describes the default installation hierarchy of the distribution. It conforms to both the GNU coding standards and the TeX directory structure (TDS) standard. For rationale and further explanation, please see those documents. The GNU standard is available as `ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/standards/standards.texi' and mirrors. The TDS document is available from `CTAN:/tex-archive/tds' (see section `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX).
You can change the default paths in many ways (see section Changing search paths). One common desire is to put everything (binaries and all)
under a single top-level directory such as `/usr/local/texmf' or
`/opt/texmf'---in the terms used below, make prefix and
texmf the same. For specific instructions on doing that,
see section configure scenarios.
Here is a skeleton of the default directory structure, extracted from the TDS document:
prefix/ installation root (`/usr/local' by default)
bin/ executables
man/ man pages
include/ C header files
info/ GNU info files
lib/ libraries (`libkpathsea.*')
share/ architecture-independent files
texmf/ TDS root
bibtex/ BibTeX input files
bib/ BibTeX databases
base/ base distribution (e.g., `xampl.bib')
misc/ single-file databases
pkg/ name of a package
bst/ BibTeX style files
base/ base distribution (e.g., `plain.bst', `acm.bst')
misc/ single-file styles
pkg/ name of a package
doc/ additional documentation
dvips/ `.pro', `.ps', `psfonts.map'
fonts/ font-related files
type/ file type (e.g., `tfm', `pk')
mode/ type of output device (types `pk' and `gf' only)
supplier/ name of a font supplier (e.g., `public')
typeface/ name of a typeface (e.g., `cm')
dpinnn/ font resolution (types `pk' and `gf' only)
metafont/ Metafont (non-font) input files
base/ base distribution (e.g., `plain.mf')
misc/ single-file packages (e.g., `modes.mf')
pkg/ name of a package (e.g., `mfpic')
metapost/ MetaPost input files
base/ base distribution (e.g., `plain.mp')
misc/ single-file packages
pkg/ name of a package
support/ support files for MetaPost-related utilities (e.g., `trfonts.map')
mft/ `MFT' inputs (e.g., `plain.mft')
tex/ TeX input files
format/ name of a format (e.g., `plain')
base/ base distribution for format (e.g., `plain.tex')
misc/ single-file packages (e.g., `webmac.tex')
local/ local additions to or local configuration files for format
pkg/ name of a package (e.g., `graphics', `mfnfss')
generic/ format-independent packages
hyphen/ hyphenation patterns (e.g., `hyphen.tex')
images/ image input files (e.g., Encapsulated PostScript)
misc/ single-file format-independent packages (e.g., `null.tex').
pkg/ name of a package (e.g., `babel')
web2c/ implementation-dependent files (`.pool', `.fmt', `texmf.cnf', etc.)
Some concrete examples for most file types:
/usr/local/bin/tex /usr/local/man/man1/xdvi.1 /usr/local/info/kpathsea.info /usr/local/lib/libkpathsea.a /usr/local/share/texmf/bibtex/bst/base/plain.bst /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmr10.600pk /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/source/public/pandora/pnr10.mf /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/tfm/public/cm/cmr10.tfm /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/type1/adobe/utopia/putr.pfa /usr/local/share/texmf/metafont/base/plain.mf /usr/local/share/texmf/metapost/base/plain.mp /usr/local/share/texmf/tex/plain/base/plain.tex /usr/local/share/texmf/tex/generic/hyphen/hyphen.tex /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.pool /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.fmt /usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf
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