Using template-letter.tex without Texlive?

[Kabouik]

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Thanks a lot for this repository.

I would like to use it without installing Texlive, as it takes up to 800 MB and I do not use LaTeX otherwise. Would it be possible to provide a link to "template-letter.tex" so I can use it without installing the whole Texlive, or is the full fledged Texlive required even for basic functions in the example letter? If yes, is there any lightweight LaTeX install I could use if I just need the underlying language but not the editor and extra packages?

Thank you.

[Kabouik]

Oh, nevermind, I just realized that the template is provided with this repository and not Texlive. Sorry for the sound and dumb question.

I'm still interested in whether something lighter than Texlive can be used to write letters without much more advanced options than those in the example letter.md.

[aaronwolen]

It depends on your OS. If you're running a recent version of Ubuntu (for example), you could generate the example letter with blockquote, letterhead and signature disabled using only the following packages:

• texlive-latex-base
• texlive-latex-recommended
• texlive-fonts-recommended

That should only require ~ 200 Mb.

[Kabouik]

Thanks, I'll have a look at it then (running Solus, so all packages may not be available).

Also, depending on languages, formatting conventions can differ from the template. Any pointers on how I should edit the template to put my own address on top left, recipient address below on the right, and date below his address? I tried to investigate myself, but not knowing LaTeX language myself, I must admit I was a bit lost even after finding "return-address" and "address" occurrences in the code.

Aaron Wolen [email protected] wrote:

It depends on your OS. If you're running a recent version of Ubuntu (for example), you could generate the example letter with the following packages:

• texlive-latex-base
• texlive-latex-recommended
• texlive-fonts-recommended

That should only require ~ 200 Mb.

[aaronwolen]

It's possible to redefine the \opening command to follow that convention. Can you give me some idea of how common that convention is and where it's used?

[Kabouik]

I can't really tell how common it is, but I think it's pretty standard in France. Perhaps in some other countries as well. You can see examples here: http://www.bienecrire.org/lettre-admin.php (the site is kind of bad, but most templates you would find would be organized the same way, with slight formatting changes here and there maybe). Most of the time the City and Date are on the right though, aligned with the recipient address. Other visual examples available on a image websearch on "modèle lettre".

I mostly need letters in English so it's not a big issue for me with the current template, and even when sending French letters, I think the current template you made is relevant so I don't mind breaking rules and using it. But in some cases, one may really have to conform to the language conventions when the letter is for very formal administrations.

Aaron Wolen [email protected] wrote:

It's possible to redefine the \opening command to follow that convention. Can you give me some idea of how common that convention is and where it's used?

[aaronwolen]

@adunning, any opinion on whether we should make this an option? I took a stab at implementing it in 8187ee4.

[adunning]

Is this an option in the KOMA-Script version of the letter class, scrletter? It has many other standard features of European letter formatting, though I haven't looked into it carefully. There is already an implementation of it for Pandoc.