Install LaTeX on Ubuntu or Debian

LaTeX is a document markup language. LaTeX is recommended to create technical or scientific articles, papers, reports, books and other documents like PhDs.

1. Open your terminal

A terminal is a Command Line Interface (CLI) where you type commands to tell the computer what to do. Make sure you’ve opened the terminal, if so, continues in the next step.

2. Install TeX Live

TeX Live is a TeX distribution to get up and running with the TeX document production system. To install it, once you’re in the terminal, enter the following command:

sudo apt-get install texlive-full

Then, type your sudo password and you’ll have installed Tex Live. This operation takes time.

3. Install Texmaker

I recommend using a specific editor for LaTeX. My favorite is Texmaker, a cross-platform open source LaTeX editor. To install it, go to the terminal and execute this command:

sudo apt-get install texmaker

4. Create your first document

Open Texmaker and click on File, New. Then write the following code:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
    Hello, world!
\end{document}

Now save the document as a tex file going to File, Save. Finally, compile the document clicking on Tools, PDFLaTeX. Make sure the PDF file has been created and it’s working. And that’s it! You’ve created your first LaTeX document!

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