At least default cache dir should exist with proper permissions set etc. Quote from user list about how to make it work after install. I haven't check it myself, as I do not actualy use LaTex, but it seems a good idea to do at least some of this steps automaticaly during emerge Once you have LaTeX installed you have to run 'texconfig' as root (I recommend merging 'dialog' from dev-util first if it isn't already). In the "FONT" section you have to go to "OPTIONS" and activate the "varfonts" option. Then go back one step and set a path where fonts should be created by common users in the "VARDIR" section (I use /var/lib/texmf/fonts instead of /var/cache/fonts which does not exist...). This dir will then be world-writable with sticky-bit set. One more thing to do is that the 'ls-R'-file in this dir is not world-writable which will result in an error on font generation. so chmod it 'a+w' and you should be set to go. (I'm still with tetex-1.0.7-r2 since I don't like the /var/cache policy adopted afterwards. regards
Oops, danarmak just uses lyx, not tex, so he can't help.
Please try the latest revision (tetex-1.0.7-r7), and let me know (maybe unmerge and rm -rf /var/lib/texmf and /var/cache/fonts).
I do not use tetext currently, just copy-pasted from gentoo-dev list, coz I think tetex is fairly important package.
Im marking this as WORKSFORME, as it does. If merged as a DEPEND of something else, and it do not work ... that is a portage issue, as portage do not run pkg_postinst() of something merged as a DEPEND ..