In order to compile a LaTeX document on your computer, you will need to install the LaTeX compiler and a text editor. How you do this depends on your operating system:

• Macintosh
• Linux

  Use your package manager (or apt-get, or whatever) to install LaTeX and all dependencies, if it's not there already. Many distributions include LaTeX by default. If you have a stock Ubuntu installation, the following should do it for you:

  • apt-get install tex-common texinfo texlive-base texlive-Latex-base

  For actually creating and editing LaTeX documents, you will need a text editor. (This is different than a word processor!) I personally use vim, but it has a rather steep learning curve so unless you already use some variant of vi I would recommend using gedit (gnome) or kate (KDE) or Atom, whichever is most convenient for you. There are also some combined text editor/LaTeX packages available, such as WineFish and TeXMaker.

  • apt-get install winefish
  • apt-get install texmaker

  But hey, if you're using your own linux system, you probably have a favorite text editor already.

• Windows