🚀 go-pugleaf

|>  I have been running SBTex v2.9 on my IBM PC, and I was wondering
|>where I could get the code to build LaTeX.  I have seen various
|>style files for LaTeX, but what do you need to build it when all you
|>have is the barebones TeX?  Please e-mail replies unless you think
|>the whole net is interested....
|
|Not sure about the whole net, but I'm certainly interested, so if someone
|could just post the info... Thanks

This is not difficult at all. Here is the general outline. Disclaimer:
I don't actually have a PC I can do this on. However I know the
process is similar to that for bigger machines, only little details
differ, and I know people who have succeeded.

+ Unload all the TSRs and crud you don't need. You want the maximum
memory for this task.

+ Get these files from any convenient distribution (your mainframe TeX
macros will do): lplain.tex, hyphen.tex, lfonts.tex, latex.tex.  You
will also need tfm files for the fonts in lfonts.tex. Or you can
proceed and let initex tell you what is missing. :-)

+ At the command line, say "initex lplain.tex \dump". Initex will then
give you output like this:

This is TeX, C Version 2.98 (INITEX)
(/usr/lib/tex/macros/lplain.tex Preloading the plain format: codes,
registers,
parameters, macros, math definitions, hyphenation
(/usr/lib/tex/macros/hyphen.tex) (/usr/lib/tex/macros/lfonts.tex)
(/usr/lib/tex/macros/latex.tex
LaTeX Version 2.09 <8 Feb 1989>
counters, hacks, errors, par, spacing, control, files, env. counters,
page nos., x-ref, environments, math, center, verbatim, list, itemize,
boxes,
tabbing, array, picture, theorem, lengths, title, sectioning,
contents, index,
bibliography, floats, footnotes, initial, output, debugging)
Input any local modifications here.
)
Beginning to dump on file lplain.fmt
 (preloaded format=lplain 90.2.23)
2885 strings of total length 35933
21890 memory locations dumped; current usage is 118&21656
1958 multiletter control sequences
\font\nullfont=nullfont
...
[lots of font names deleted]
...
\font\tencircw=circlew10
18989 words of font info for 72 preloaded fonts
14 hyphenation exceptions
Hyphenation trie of length 5942 has 181 ops
No pages of output.
Transcript written on lplain.log.

+ If no files were missing, you now have lplain.fmt. You can run latex
by "virtex &lplain sample.tex". There may be short cut invocations,
check your manual.

+ If you want to run the DVI backend on your PC also, then you need to
get the raster files (pk files) for your printer driver. You can work
out the files needed from the log created in the dumping stage. Font
xxxNN (at P point) corresponds to the file xxxNN at <printer
resolution>*(P/NN) pk.  If (at P point) is missing, the font is at the
natural size NN.  E.g.  cmsy10 at 12 pt for a 300 dpi printer requires
the pk file cmsy10.360pk (or some variation on the pathname due to
limitations on filename suffixes on MSDOS systems).