[tex-live] Using tlmgr

[Greg Bennett]

Hi there!

I have just installed tex-live via the net and I tried to use the command
tlmgr --gui
only to be told:

(running on Debian, switching to user mode!)
Loading local TeX Live database
  (/home/gwbennett/texmf/tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb)
This may take some time, please be patient ...
cannot setup TLPDB in /home/gwbennett/texmf ar /usr/bin/tlmgr line 5336.
Compilation failed in require ar /usr/bin/tlmgr line 4445.

Clearly I have missed something about the establishment of TLPDB - is it
to be a directory and there is a permission problem ? My browse through the
documentation for tlmgr has not given me a pointer; I hope that the list
can.

By the way, where does TL keep its packages ?

Thanks for any and all assistance ..
Cheers
Greg Bennett