Directory macros/latex-dev/base
The LaTeX kernel
Release 2025-06-01 pre-release 0
Overview
This bundle provides the core LaTeX kernel. In addition to this bundle, a minimal LaTeX system also needs the files contained in the
- L3 programming layer (
l3kernel
) - L3 backend interfaces (
l3backend
) - L3 unicode support (
unicode-data
)
- Packages which must be available (
required
). These are- Essential tools (
tools
) - Core graphics and color support (
graphics
) - Key mathematics support (
amsmath
) - First aid for external packages (
firstaid
)
- Essential tools (
This file contains a small set of pointers to other more complete documentation on installing and using a LaTeX system.
Documentation
Full documentation of the LaTeX system is provided by
- LaTeX: A Document Preparation System; Lamport, Addison-Wesley
- The LaTeX Companion, 3ed; Mittelbach and Fischer, Addison-Wesley
- Guide to LaTeX, 4ed; Kopka and Daly, Addison-Wesley
The distribution is described in files ending .txt
or .md
; briefly, the most significant of these files are
README.md
is this filemanifest.txt
lists all the files in this LaTeX distribution, with one line of information about the contentslegal.txt
andlppl.txt
(LaTeX Project Public License) describe the LaTeX copyright, warranty and copying restrictions.bugs.txt
describes how to submit a bug report for LaTeX
Other documentation files include files with names of the form:
<xxx>guide.tex
You will probably need to update your system before you can typeset these files. Each file needs three LaTeX runs. Some of these are also available as PDF files on CTAN.
The following files contain further information:
ltx3info.tex
gives you some historical information about the LaTeX3 projectlamport-manual.err
lists errata in LaTeX: A Document Preparation System (Lamport)tlc3.err
lists errata in The LaTeX Companion, 3rd edition (Mittelbach and Fischer)
The files ltnews*.tex
(part of the doc
bundle) contain the LaTeX newsletters, the highest number being the most recent.
Installation
We no longer distribute installation instructions for the various TeX implementations. All modern TeX systems include LaTeX as-standard, and end users should in general use the release versions supplied in this way.
Release distribution is carried out only through the CTAN archives.
Requirements
The LaTeX kernel requires the ε-TeX extensions to TeX, which were finalised in the late 1990s and are available in modern TeX-derived engines. It also requires a set of common post-ε-TeX extensions, generally known as the pdfTeX additions. These are available in all modern TeX engines.
License
The contents of this bundle are distributed under the LaTeX Project Public License, version 1.3c or later.
Copyright (C) 1989-2024 The LaTeX Project
http://latex-project.org/
All rights reserved.
Download the contents of this package in one zip archive (43.9M).
latex-base-dev – Development pre-release of the LaTeX kernel
This package provides a testing release for upcoming LaTeX2ε kernel changes. Testing by the LaTeX team itself suggests that the code is stable and usable, but wider use by knowledgeable users is required by adding these changes to the release LaTeX kernel. Typically, the code here will be used by a TeX system to create dedicated formats, for example pdflatex-dev, which can then be used explicitly for testing.
Package | latex-base-dev |
Version | 2025-06-01 pre-release 0 |
Licenses | The LaTeX Project Public License 1.3c |
Copyright | 1993–2024 The LaTeX Project |
Maintainer | The LaTeX Project Team |
TDS archive | latex-base-dev.tds.zip |
Contained in | TeX Live as latex-base-dev MiKTeX as latex-base-dev |
Topics | Format Class LaTeX development |
See also | latex-base |