How can I use a (updated) LaTeX package not provided by the local installation of texlive?
In this case you can install locally the needed LaTeX package to your home directory. Here is a small howto:
cd ~/texmf # Or create this directory if it does not exist yet wget 'http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/tex/install/.../PACKAGE.tds.zip' unzip PACKAGE.tds.zip rm PACKAGE.tds.zip cd ~ texhash ~/texmf
In general download the package from CTAN. If possible download a package that follows the TeX Directory Structure. These packages most commonly end in .tds.zip.
mkdir -p ~/texmf/tex/latex/$package-$version unzip $package_$version.tds.zip -d ~/texmf/tex/generic/$package-$version
After you have unziped all packages, recreated the ls-R Index via
mktexlsr ~/texmf