Recommended build system for latex? [closed]

Answer 1

I've been using the latex-makefile for a while. Its pretty good if you're trying to use an edit-compile-preview cycle:

• Takes almost zero configuration.
• Builds .ps or .pdf.
• Handles all the necessary iteration. I literally have to write nothing else.
• Quite robust, but occasionally the errors and warnings get mangled.
• It doesn't kill the old pdf until the new one is built.
• It builds other files, like generating eps from gnuplot. I havent found this hugely useful though.
• The author is very quick to respond to feature requests.

• I can replicate the advantages of latexmk fairly easily with:

  while [ 1 ]; do /usr/bin/make; done
  

Some downsides:

• It only allows pdf generation via dvi -> ps -> pdf, instead of directly via pdftex.
• Its error output isnt the same as the standard latex one, so vim isnt moving to the correct line.
• It doesnt always recompile on changes in bibtex and other non-tex sources.
• If I remove a file, it doesn't remove the dependency without a make clean.