Re: pytex: a tex engine written in python

Dirk Hünniger <[email protected]> Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:41:17 +0200
Newsgroups gmane.comp.tex.texhax
Message-ID <[email protected]>
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Hi Paulo,

thanks for you suggestion. Unfortunately it does not work right for my 
case. I can install Tectonic in this way on a Debian system. But I want 
to install mediawiki2latex as a Debian package and depend on Tectonic in 
the metadata of the mediawiki2latex Debian package. Therefore I actually 
need Tectonic as a Debian package as well.

Yours Dirk

On 7/16/26 22:09, Paulo Ney de Souza wrote:
> The upstream-recommended Debian/Linux installation is the precompiled 
> standalone executable:
>
> curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL \
> https://drop-sh.fullyjustified.net | sh
>
> sudo install -m 755 tectonic /usr/local/bin/tectonic
>
> PN
>
> On Thu, Jul 16, 2026, 2:38 PM Jonathan Fine <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>     Hi Dirk
>
>     It's interesting that it's a good bit quicker than luatex. I
>     wonder why that is.
>
>     I suggest you make your debian request on
>     https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/issues
>
>     They also have a discussion forum
>     https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/discussions/
>
>     Best regards
>     Jonathan
>
>
>     On Thu, 16 Jul 2026, 13:32 Dirk Hünniger,
>     <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>         Hi Jonathan,
>
>         I tried out Tectonic. In my test run, it performed roughly 30%
>         faster
>         than lualatex. So I considered to use it in my mediawiki2latex
>         project.
>         My mediawiki2latex project is distributed as a Debian package.
>         So I will
>         need a Debian package of Tectonic too if I want to use it.
>         Unfortunately
>         I could not find any such Debian package. I wanted to ask if
>         there are
>         any compelling reasons against making Debian package of
>         Tectonic and
>         whom I could possible contact to ask for that.
>
>         Yours Dirk
>
>         On 7/15/26 19:45, Jonathan Fine wrote:
>         > Hi Junling
>         >
>         > I've spent a few minutes looking at your pytex repository on
>         github.
>         > I'm impressed by the amount of work you've done, and not
>         surprised
>         > that at present your Python implementation runs slow.
>         >
>         > In addition to your implementation in Python, there are roughly
>         > similar implementations in Java and Rust. The Java
>         implementation is
>         > not in use, but is of historical interest. It aimed for 100%
>         > compatibility. It ran too slow for use in production. The Rust
>         > implementation has users and is being actively developed.
>         >
>         > Java: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Typesetting_System
>         > Rust: https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/en-US/
>         >
>         > Tectonic is a Rust implementation (with changes) of XeTeX.
>         Even if
>         > XeTeX is changing only slowly, the derived work Tectonic is
>         actively
>         > developed, see
>         >
>         https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md
>         >
>         > Finally, https://tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb27-0/fine.pdf
>         gives my
>         > views (from 2005) on integrating Python with TeX. It's been
>         a long
>         > time since I've read that article.
>         >
>         > I wish you well with your TeX and Python projects.
>         >
>         > with kind regards
>         >
>         > Jonathan
>
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    <p>Hi Paulo,</p>
    <p>thanks for you suggestion. Unfortunately it does not work right
      for my case. I can install Tectonic in this way on a Debian
      system. But I want to install mediawiki2latex as a Debian package
      and depend on Tectonic in the metadata of the mediawiki2latex
      Debian package. Therefore I actually need Tectonic as a Debian
      package as well. </p>
    <p>Yours Dirk</p>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/16/26 22:09, Paulo Ney de Souza
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAFVhNZMdjzgYOi6==RTJ-_Wwp=y=L=-sKzrDiBn3fkSaj71vTQ@mail.gmail.com">
      <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      <div dir="auto">
        <div dir="auto">The upstream-recommended Debian/Linux
          installation is the precompiled standalone executable:</div>
        <div dir="auto"><br>
        </div>
        curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL \
        <div dir="auto">    <a
            href="https://drop-sh.fullyjustified.net"
            moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://drop-sh.fullyjustified.net</a>
          | sh</div>
        <div dir="auto"><br>
        </div>
        <div dir="auto">sudo install -m 755 tectonic
          /usr/local/bin/tectonic</div>
        <div dir="auto"><br>
        </div>
        <div dir="auto">PN</div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container">
        <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jul 16, 2026, 2:38 PM
          Jonathan Fine &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]"
            moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">[email protected]</a>&gt;
          wrote:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
          <div dir="auto">
            <div>Hi Dirk</div>
            <div dir="auto"><br>
            </div>
            <div dir="auto">It's interesting that it's a good bit
              quicker than luatex. I wonder why that is.</div>
            <div dir="auto">
              <div dir="auto">
                <div dir="auto"><br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto">I suggest you make your debian request
                  on <a
href="https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/issues"
                    rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank"
                    moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/issues</a></div>
                <div dir="auto"><br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto">They also have a discussion forum <a
href="https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/discussions/"
                    target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
                    moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/discussions/</a></div>
                <div dir="auto"><br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto">Best regards</div>
                <div dir="auto">Jonathan </div>
              </div>
              <br>
              <br>
              <div class="gmail_quote" dir="auto">
                <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, 16 Jul 2026,
                  13:32 Dirk Hünniger, &lt;<a
                    href="mailto:[email protected]"
                    rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                    class="moz-txt-link-freetext">[email protected]</a>&gt;
                  wrote:<br>
                </div>
                <blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi
                  Jonathan,<br>
                  <br>
                  I tried out Tectonic. In my test run, it performed
                  roughly 30% faster <br>
                  than lualatex. So I considered to use it in my
                  mediawiki2latex project. <br>
                  My mediawiki2latex project is distributed as a Debian
                  package. So I will <br>
                  need a Debian package of Tectonic too if I want to use
                  it. Unfortunately <br>
                  I could not find any such Debian package. I wanted to
                  ask if there are <br>
                  any compelling reasons against making Debian package
                  of Tectonic and <br>
                  whom I could possible contact to ask for that.<br>
                  <br>
                  Yours Dirk<br>
                  <br>
                  On 7/15/26 19:45, Jonathan Fine wrote:<br>
                  &gt; Hi Junling<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; I've spent a few minutes looking at your pytex
                  repository on github. <br>
                  &gt; I'm impressed by the amount of work you've done,
                  and not surprised <br>
                  &gt; that at present your Python implementation runs
                  slow.<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; In addition to your implementation in Python,
                  there are roughly <br>
                  &gt; similar implementations in Java and Rust. The
                  Java implementation is <br>
                  &gt; not in use, but is of historical interest. It
                  aimed for 100% <br>
                  &gt; compatibility. It ran too slow for use in
                  production. The Rust <br>
                  &gt; implementation has users and is being actively
                  developed.<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; Java: <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Typesetting_System"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                    class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Typesetting_System</a><br>
                  &gt; Rust: <a
                    href="https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/en-US/"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                    class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/en-US/</a><br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; Tectonic is a Rust implementation (with changes)
                  of XeTeX. Even if <br>
                  &gt; XeTeX is changing only slowly, the derived
                  work Tectonic is actively <br>
                  &gt; developed, see<br>
                  &gt; <a
href="https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                    class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md</a><br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; Finally, <a
href="https://tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb27-0/fine.pdf"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                    class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb27-0/fine.pdf</a>
                  gives my <br>
                  &gt; views (from 2005) on integrating Python with TeX.
                  It's been a long <br>
                  &gt; time since I've read that article.<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; I wish you well with your TeX and Python
                  projects.<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; with kind regards<br>
                  &gt;<br>
                  &gt; Jonathan<br>
                </blockquote>
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