Add path in TeX Live 2012 on Ubuntu

Question

I write a package named umtools.sty, since Ubuntu One can only sync the folder which is in ~/, so I put *.sty in ~/tlpkg/.

Now, how can I use it like \usepackage{umtools} instead of \usepackage{~/tlpkg/umtools}, as the way it is set up, \usepackage{<absolute path>} causes a warning: "You have requested package `~/tlpkg/umtools', but the package provides umtool", which makes me uncomfortable.

I've tried to modify ~/.pam_environment to add new PATH, but it doesn't work. Does someone know kpathsea.

Ubuntu 13.04 + Tex Live 2012 by sh install_tl + TeXstudio + XeTeX

Answer 1

You have two options:

1. Put them in a standard directory where TeX will look:

   ~/texmf/tex/latex/umtools

   You may need to run texhash afterwards.

2. Set the env. variable TEXINPUTS. (just like you'd set $PATH). I prefer to set it to something like this:

   TEXINPUTS=.:./packages:$HOME/texmf

   which gives me the flexibility of what package to use for a project:

   1. First check in the current working directory (for small projects)
   2. Then check in the sub directory packages
   3. Then check in ~/texmf
   4. And finally use the distribution default package.