Install TexLive via your package manager. On Debian/Ubuntu, install the full distribution (TexLive plus all common packages) or a minimal set if disk space matters.
sudo apt update sudo apt install texlive-full # ~3GB, includes everything
If you want a smaller installation, install only essential packages:
sudo apt install texlive-latex-base texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-fonts-extra
texlive-latex-base gives you core LaTeX with common document classes. texlive-latex-extra adds most packages (amsmath, graphicx, xcolor, etc.). texlive-fonts-recommended and texlive-fonts-extra provide additional fonts.
Check installation by compiling a test document:
echo '\documentclass{article}\begin{document}Hello\end{document}' > test.tex pdflatex test.tex ls test.pdf
If test.pdf is created, TexLive is working. The first run takes time as it generates font cache; subsequent runs are faster.
On Fedora/RHEL, use:
sudo dnf install texlive-latex-full
On macOS with Homebrew:
brew install texlive
For minimal setups or when you need specific packages not in your distro, install TexLive directly from tug.org. The distro package is usually simpler—stick with it unless you need the latest version.
After installing new packages later with tlmgr, you may need to rebuild the font cache: fmtutil-sys --all.