search

manuels / texlive.js

Compiling LaTeX (TeX live) in your browser
http://manuels.github.com/texlive.js/
GNU General Public License v2.0
1.25k stars 139 forks source link

This library requires TEXLIVE distribution installed on the computer to be used? #40

Open iMartinezMateu opened 8 years ago

iMartinezMateu commented 8 years ago

Hi,

I need to develop a LaTeX web application program in Java that compiles LaTeX documents without the need of making external communication with other process, so the main requirement of this application is not having TEXLIVE (or another distribution) installed on the computer where the program is going to be executed. This library requires TEXLIVE distribution installed on the computer or it can work without any dependency?

Thanks.

xylo04 commented 8 years ago

Yes, this library will work as a self-contained web application and doesn't require any form of LaTeX to be installed on the user's machine. If you take a look at the demo page http://manuels.github.io/texlive.js/ and pop open the network view of your browser's developer tools, you'll see that TeX Live is downloaded into the user's browser and run there. It sounds like this library should fit your requirements, although it does not have Java bindings, only JavaScript.

fzimmermann89 commented 8 years ago

Hi,

this javascript library allows to run a javascript version of pdftex in your browser (or any other javascript interpreter). It needs access to all latex/font/... files included in your .tex. One way to achieve this is to install texlive. If you wish you can then clean up the texlive installation by removing all unnecessary files (as done by the makefile). Another way is to use the texlive folder in the repo. Currently the library access the files via emscriptens lazy loading. If you are not using a server for all the texlive files, you might want to look into the different ways to access files (or include all neccessary files with emscripten on compile)

Felix

2016-02-08 12:40 GMT+01:00 Iván Martínez Mateu notifications@github.com:

Hi,

I need to develop a LaTeX web application program in Java that compiles LaTeX documents without the need of making external communication with other process, so the main requirement of this application is not having TEXLIVE (or another distribution) installed on the computer where the program is going to be executed. This library requires TEXLIVE distribution installed on the computer or it can work without any dependency?

Thanks.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/manuels/texlive.js/issues/40.

iMartinezMateu commented 8 years ago

Thanks for your answer.

If I use this library in my application, can I later sell the app in the App Store or the GNU license will be a problem?

El 8 feb 2016, a las 16:11, Chris Keller notifications@github.com escribió:

Yes, this library will work as a self-contained web application and doesn't require any form of LaTeX to be installed on the user's machine. If you take a look at the demo page http://manuels.github.io/texlive.js/ and pop open the network view of your browser's developer tools, you'll see that TeX Live is downloaded into the user's browser and run there. It sounds like this library should fit your requirements, although it does not have Java bindings, only JavaScript.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

xylo04 commented 8 years ago

I'm not a lawyer, but my impression is that GNU license would be a problem if it were packaged into an installed app.

fzimmermann89 commented 8 years ago

As far as I am concerned you CAN sell it an the google play store IF you don't use any DRM. If one person buys your app it must be possible for him to share it by any means (such as copying the apk to a different device) and one should be able to change parts your app, recompile it and use it instead. So you MUST provide complete source code of your app. You will not be able to sell it on the apple store (you cant disable their DRM).

manuels commented 8 years ago

I would agree with @fzimmermann89 interpretation of the GPL.

iMartinezMateu commented 8 years ago

I read in an issue that this library is GPL because of TeXlive. If I replace TeXlive with another non-GPL distribution and I use the pdflatex compiler ported here, can I avoid that my app inherits GPL license? So, I can charge for it without any restriction or obligation.

El 8 feb 2016, a las 19:45, Felix notifications@github.com escribió:

As far as I am concerned you CAN sell it an the google play store IF you don't use any DRM. If one person buys your app it must be possible for him to share it by any means (such as copying the apk to a different device) and one should be able to change parts your app, recompile it and use it instead. So you MUST provide complete source code of your app. You will not be able to sell it on the apple store (you cant disable their DRM). — Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

manuels commented 8 years ago

If I replace TeXlive with another non-GPL distribution and I use the pdflatex compiler ported here, can I avoid that my app inherits GPL license?

No, AFAIK the original pdflatex compiler is also licensed under GPL.

iMartinezMateu commented 8 years ago

Mmm... so the only way is choosing XeTeX as it has a MIT License (check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XeTeX ) and trying to use emscripten like you did here to porting it to Javascript. Right? Do you know if XeTeX has SyncTeX support and what are the main differences between LaTeX and XeTeX in terms of package compatibility?

fzimmermann89 commented 8 years ago

No. Pdftex (and every other latex to PDF Compiler I know) is GPL. Am 08.02.2016 9:26 nachm. schrieb "Iván Martínez Mateu" < notifications@github.com>:

I read in an issue that this library is GPL because of TeXlive. If I replace TeXlive with another non-GPL distribution and I use the pdflatex compiler ported here, can I avoid that my app inherits GPL license? So, I can charge for it without any restriction or obligation.

El 8 feb 2016, a las 19:45, Felix notifications@github.com escribió:

As far as I am concerned you CAN sell it an the google play store IF you don't use any DRM. If one person buys your app it must be possible for him to share it by any means (such as copying the apk to a different device) and one should be able to change parts your app, recompile it and use it instead. So you MUST provide complete source code of your app. You will not be able to sell it on the apple store (you cant disable their DRM). — Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/manuels/texlive.js/issues/40#issuecomment-181518013.

fzimmermann89 commented 8 years ago

Again: No. XeTex doesn't produce pdf files. Either way of converting its output to pdf is GPL or CPL (same restrictions).

I am not willing to discuss this matter any further. My last advice is: If you want to create a latex app, make it opensource. You propably could earn money because of the laziness of people: Some people will not start searching for a way to get your app for free or chose to pay because they like your work.

Any of this is completely outside the scope of texlive.js..