Using TikZ on Linux (Lyx)?

Question

I've recently upgraded to Linux, and without MikTeX I really have no idea how to manage my packages. What should I do in order to use TikZ on Lyx in Linux?

Edit: oh yeah, I forgot: Linux is Ubuntu 12.10, I installed Lyx from the repository and that's it.

Answer 1

Let apt make your life easier:

If you are new to Linux, I do not suggest installing texlive from their homepage. That process is very easy, but the problem is that whenever you install anything with apt that depends on a texlive package, it won't recognize that you already have texlive installed. I'm pretty sure that Ubuntu 12.10 comes with texlive 2012 in the repos so I would suggest installing it from apt. If you have a lot of space and don't want to deal with missing packages:

sudo apt-get install texlive-full

But if you just want the basics you don't have to install all of that. You could just do:

sudo apt-get install texlive

In summary, apt makes sure that all of the packages and programs on your computer play nice with each other. Installing manually introduces a new kid to the playground that doesn't necessarily play by the rules.

Finally, reconfigure LyX so that it is aware of your new toys:

Start LyX and go to Tools > Reconfigure

Answer 2

Try downloading texlive from their official homepage. It's a large ISO but once you get it, it installs easily and then you can use tlmgr for package management. It's quite similar to miktex.

It comes with all the CTAN packages so you don't really need to install anything else at the start.

Edit:

Oh, and specifically for TikZ, you should try getting KTikZ. It's very useful for creating figures as it shows updates in (almost) real-time.