webmaster@tug.org
Updated: $Date: 2000/02/18 10:48:29 $
TUG helps to develop, as well as provide to its members and members of LUGs, a TeX Live CD-ROM, containing ready-to-run TeX systems for most types of Unix and Windows 95/NT, and a very complete tree of fonts and macros arranged according to the standard TeX directory structure (TDS).
In May 1996 the TeX Users Group, the UK TeX Users Group and the French TeX Users Group (GUTenberg), in collaboration with members of other groups and helpful individuals, produced a plug-and-play CD-ROM of Thomas Esser's teTeX, based on Web2c, with a support tree adhering to the TDS (TeX Directory Structure) tree structure.
The second edition of TeX Live was released in May 1997 and was based on Web2c 7.0, with some additions from teTeX.
The third edition was a considerably changed system, based on Web2c 7.2. This was an ultimate free TeX distribution, distributed with the TUGboat (Volume 19, Number 1) in summer 1998.
The fourth edition follows the same pattern, using a new version of teTeX, and a new release of Web2c (7.3). This edition is distributed with TUGboat (Volume 20, Number 1) in spring 1999.
With TeX Live, you can either run directly off the CD, or install programs to your hard disk, using a simple install program.
If you're interested in redistributing TeX Live 4 within your organization or department, please see the copying conditions.
If you wish to obtain the TeX Live CD through TUG, simply become a member; you will receive the TeX Live CD with the abovementioned issue of TUGboat - please see the information on joining TUG.
Many local TeX users groups also make the CD available to their members. If you wish to receive TeX Live as a benefit of membership in one of these organizations, please contact the appropriate address provided here.
TUG members or members of other TeX users groups wishing to receive additional CD's should contact TUG or their local users group for more information.
Source material for all packages, fonts and programs is on the CD. Documentation is available in at least one (and sometimes all) of dvi, PDF and HTML.
The documentation for the CD is available as the HTML document or in the Portable Document Format.
As the CD-ROM uses the ISO-9660 standard, the platform-independent files can, in principle, be read on all operating systems which are compatible with that format. To preserve the complete Unix/POSIX file system information the file tree was recorded with the Rock Ridge extensions, so that long filenames are honored. Some operating systems, most notably MS-DOS, do not support these extensions, so that only the ISO-9660 filenames are used, but with this limitation, the files are readable on all systems.
The CD is in ISO-9660 (High Sierra) format, with Rock Ridge extensions. In order to take full advantage of the CD on a Unix system, your system needs to be able to use the Rock Ridge extensions. Please consult the documentation for your mount command to see if it is possible.
If you have several different machines on a local network, see if you can mount the CD on one which does support Rock Ridge, and use it from the others;
Linux, FreeBSD, Sun, SGI and DEC Alpha systems should be able to use the CD with no problems. We would appreciate receiving detailed advice from other system users who also succeed, for future versions of this documentation.
Author: Sebastian Rahtz.
Last modified: April 1999.
Please send comments by email to
rahtz@tug.org
webmaster@tug.org
Updated: $Date: 2000/02/18 10:48:29 $