To aid the archiving and retrieval of of TeX-related files, a
TUG working group developed the Comprehensive TeX Archive
Network (CTAN). Each CTAN site has identical material,
and maintains authoritative versions of its material. These
collections are extensive; in particular, almost everything mentioned
in this article is archived at the CTAN sites, even if its
location isn't explicitly stated.
The CTAN sites are currently dante.ctan.org,
cam.ctan.org and tug.ctan.org.
The organisation of TeX files on all
these sites is identical and starts at
tex-archive/. To reduce network load, please use the CTAN site
or mirror closest to you. A complete and current list of CTAN sites
and known mirrors can be obtained by using the finger utility on
`user' ctan@cam.ctan.org, ctan@dante.ctan.org or
ctan@tug.ctan.org; it is
also available as file CTAN.sites
To find software at a CTAN site, use anonymous ftp to the host,
and then execute the command `quote site index <term>' (see
finding files for details).
The email server
ftpmail@ftp.dante.de provides an ftp-like interface through
mail. Send a message containing just the line `help' to your
nearest server for details of use.
Users on BITNET may access anonymous ftp for some files
indirectly by sending mail to BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET. Send a
message containing the line `help' to this address for more
information.
There is also the DECUS TeX collection of
material for VMS, Unix, MS-DOS, and the Macintosh.
It is available via anonymous ftp from
wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) in
decus/tex/. It can also be obtained from the DECUS Library
(reference number VS0058) in the US, or through your DECUS office
outside of the US. To contact the DECUS Library, send mail or telephone:
DECUS
LIBRARY ORDER PROCESSING
334 South Street, SHR3-1/T25
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195
USA
Tel: 800-DECUS55 (within the USA, for information)
Fax: (+1) 508-841-3373 (for inquiries)
or send electronic mail for information to the DECUS TeX Collection
Editor, Ted Nieland (nieland@ted.hcst.com).
Finally, of course, the TeX user who has no access to any sort of
network may buy a copy of the archive on CD-ROM (see
TeX CD-ROMs).
Use anonymous ftp to any CTAN archive
(see sources of software) and retrieve
the file README.uploads in the root directory. It contains
instructions for uploading files and notifying the appropriate people
for that site.
If you cannot use ftp, mail your contribution to
ctan@urz.Uni-Heidelberg.de and it will be passed along. You will make
everyone's life easier if you choose a descriptive and unique name for
your submission, so it's probably a good idea to check that your style
file's name is not already in use by means of the
`site index'
command (finding files in the archives).
A comprehensive list of METAFONT fonts is posted to
comp.fonts and to comp.text.tex, roughly
every six weeks, by Lee Quin (lee@sq.sq.com); it is available
as info/metafont-list
The list contains details both of commercial fonts and of fonts
available via anonymous ftp. Most of the fonts are available via
anonymous ftp from the CTAN archives
(see sources of software).
If you don't have access to the Internet, there are obvious
attractions to TeX collections on a CD-ROM. Even those with net
access will find large quantities of TeX-related files to hand a
great convenience.
Ready-to-run TeX systems on CD-ROM are available:
A consortium of User Groups (notably TUG,
UK TUG and GUTenberg) distribute the
TeX Live CD-ROM, now in its third edition. All members of
several User Groups are receiving copies, and additional copies may
be purchased, for example, from UK TUG for £25,
including an edition of Baskerville which serves as a manual.
The Dutch TeX Users Group (NTG) publish the whole
4AllTeX workbench on a 2-CD-ROM set packed with all the
MS-DOS TeX software, macros and fonts you can want. It is
available from NTG direct (see
user groups), from TUG for
$40 and from UK TUG for £30 (a manual is
included). It is a useful resource for anyone to browse, not just
for MS-DOS users.
An alternative to the ready-to-run system is the CTAN archive
snapshot; in general one would expect that such systems would be
harder to use, but that the volume of resources offered would balance
this extra inconvenience.
Walnut Creek CDROM provide a two-disc CD-ROM set, holding
1000Mb of TeX-related material. Information about the CD-ROM is
available at http://www.cdrom.com/titles/prog/tex.html, which also
has a link to an ordering page. Walnut Creek's address, etc., are:
Walnut Creek CDROM
4041 Pike Lane, Ste D-www
Concord, CA 94520
USA
Tel: (+1) 510 674-0783 or
800 786-9907 (within the USA and Canada)
Fax: (+1) 510 674-0821
Email: info@cdrom.com (for questions) and
orders@cdrom.com (for orders)
Walnut Creek (who run one of the major CTAN mirrors) are
rumoured to be producing a new release of their disc set in 1997.
Prime Time Freeware produced TeXcetera 1.1 in July 1994,
which was a snapshot of CTAN taken in June 1994. Regular
updates were planned (but have not apparently been forthcoming).
The material is all compressed in ZIP format to fit it all on
one CD, and to avoid the limitations of the ISO 9660
file system directory. You can buy the CD from:
Prime Time Freeware
370 Altair Way, Suite 150
Sunnyvale CA 94086
USA
Tel: (+1) 408 433 9662
Fax: (+1) 408 433 0727
Email: ptf@cfcl.com
or from many CD-ROM resellers, or the
TUG office.
Price will be around $60. Please note that PTF is not a big
commercial firm, and is a good friend of the TeX community.
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