Screenshots

Ready LaTeX with Kile and a formula preview

Ready LaTeX with TeXmaker and KLaTeXformula

The dialog to create a pendrive.

What it is

Ready LaTeX is a live Linux distribution. This means that you have the entire operating system on a CD, and you can use it to boot the computer and work without modifying anything on your PC. It is meant to be used live and contains (at least it should) everything you need for your LaTeX tasks. In particular it features:

Most of TeXlive packages, updated to the version in Kubuntu 8.04.1
Some other packages not present there, notably kuvio, classicthesis and diagrams among others.
The Kile and TeXmaker editors
XFig for drawings
Asymptote and PGF if you prefer to create your graphics from source.
Lots of guides both for general use of TeX/LaTeX and for specific packages.
LaTeX support for English (UK and USA), Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, Swedish, Polish and Greek.

As an added bonus you will find:

KLaTeXformula: a tool to display formulas and save them as images.
An integration script for KLaTeXformula: just hit Ctrl+Shift+L in any editor to get a snapshot of the currently selected formula.
Right-click menu entries to compile in Dvi, PDF or PS.
The scripts indentlatex and unindentlatex to add or remove indentation from a LaTeX file.

Ready LaTeX is based on the Kubuntu 8.04.1 distribution, but it is in no way sponsored by Canonical or affiliated to the Ubuntu family. It is an amateur work done by me (Andrea Ferretti) for my own needs, although I had enough care to make it usable by others. It is distributed here under GPL3.

How to install

Just download the iso image for the most recent release and burn it to a cd. Ready LaTeX can also be installed on a pendrive. Just boot from the CD and choose "Create pendrive" from the menu. This is very useful, since of course you cannot save your files on the CD. When you use Ready Latex on CD you need to save your files somewhere else, for instance on a USB disk or sending them by email.

Why?

Of course I know that many distributions exist and I thought a bit before adding another one to the pool (although it is just a Kubuntu modification). The fact is that I think that a live cd to write in LaTeX is actually useful to many scientists and mathematicians, since very often one is in need of a LaTeX installation while using someone else's computer.
There already exist some distributions of LaTeX which could be run from a CD, but on a existing operating system, the main example being TeXlive itself. Still a live CD allows for more customization and is (in my opinion) more useful.
When I began to create Ready LaTeX only one such tool existed: Portable LaTeX by Marco Caminati, and it was very recent too. I thought that I'd have liked some modifications, and after some discussion with Marco I started writing my own.

Limitations

Ready LaTeX is meant to be used live, either on a CD or on a pendrive. It is not suitable to be installed on your computer. It is an amateur work done in my spare time, following this guide on Debuntu.
It lacks very basic packages, and some other packages which I created for it are very low quality and don't follow Debian standards. Moreover the whole customization is done in /etc/skel for those who know what it is. So, it is not a properly done distribution, but it works well live.
Moreover, for reasons of space, english is the only language supported. Of course this refers to the applications; LaTeX support is available for many more languages.

How to contribute

Currently I don't have any plans to update Ready LaTeX, since it fulfills my needs as it is. If you have any idea, just send me an email. My address is fezrzrzettzizandzrzeza@gmail.com (remove all the z) (click to write me an email). Other than that, you can contribute just spreading the word.

Here is the md5sum of the iso.

You find below an image suitable to be printed on the CD, in jpg or png format (these are available on the CD too).