TeX on OS X

Around six months before starting my postgraduate studies, I bought an iBook, the idea behind it being that I could do some of my work on it, especially writing-up papers and the thesis using LaTeX. At least, that's why I told myself I needed an iBook.

The reality had been very different to the theory: all of my computer work is done in the "office" and I use my iBook, exclusively, for everything other than maths. The main reason for this was the seeming impossibility of getting LaTeX to work on an iBook, and more generally a mac — no matter how hard I tried, I simply couldn't get to the bottom of how to get the damn thing to work.

That frustration, however, has no come to an end. Thanks to a good friend of mine who doesn't mind trailblazing the computing way for numbskulls like me, the mystery of LaTeX on OS X has come to an end. It would be wrong for me not to share this information with you, so here are some links detailing the in fact very simple process.

First of all, and before you go anywhere else, see Will Robertson's page TeX on Mac OS X — the most simple beginner's guide. This page contains the essence of everything everywhere else will tell you, and provides direct links to the files you need to download to get everything to work.

In truth, that one link (which link? this link) is necessary and sufficient for LaTeX happiness. Other resources are useful, in the sense that they pointed to this page. These are the following: LaTeX and Mac OS X (which also contains many useful help pages on TeX in general) and TeX on OS X.

Hopefully, this information will be of use to anyone else that has struggled with LaTeX on OS X. It has certainly made me feel better about buying the iBook...