Sources for TeX Freeware and Shareware via Anonymous FTP or Web Link

Installation and use of free or shareware TeX software may require some technical expertise. Most packages are accompanied by relevant documentation; it is always a good idea to read this before undertaking an installation.

• PC (Windows and DOS)
• Macintosh
• Unix
• VMS
• Other platforms
• Converters: TeX to/from Word processors

Distributions of free/shareware TeX software can also be obtained on diskette or CD-ROM.

PC (Windows and DOS)

TeX Live CD (see below)

CTAN (see below)

• MiKTeX (Windows'95, '98, Windows/NT): systems/win32/miktex
  See the MiKTeX project home page for more information.
  A guide to installing MiKTeX has been contributed by Claus Dethlefsen at Aalborg University in Denmark.
• fpTeX: a port of teTeX/Web2C for Win32 systems by Fabrice Popineau; it features almost all programs found in teTeX, as well as some supplementary ones, and is completely compatible with teTeX (configuration files, format files and texmf trees can be shared). The latest version of fpTeX can be found on every CTAN site at systems/win32/fptex; the full official repository is ftp://ftp.dante.de/pub/fptex. Check the fptex home page for more information.
• BaKoMa TeX (shareware): a port of TeX for Win32 systems by Basil Malyshev, this system includes a number of useful tools, including a previewer that will display PostScript and PDF files and programs for concatenating and rearranging DVI files. May be downloaded free for a 28-day trial.
  BaKoMa TeX is found on CTAN at systems/win32/bakoma.
  See the BaKoMa mailing list and archive site for more information.
• emtex (OS/2, MS-DOS, Windows'95, Windows/NT): systems/msdos/emtex
  (EmTeXGI, a free distribution of emTeX for Windows 3.1/95/NT, has been packaged by Allin Cottrell; this includes an installation batch script and complete instructions.)

4AllTeX

This product is not currently available; an update will be posted here as soon as it is once again available.
This double CD-ROM packages the Web2c implementation of TeX for use on Windows (95, 98 and NT) along with many utilities and most of the contents of CTAN. Unlike previous versions of 4AllTeX, this is a true Win32 system. (The 4th edition, for MS-DOS, Windows 3.x and OS/2, is also still available.)
A 551-page manual for 4AllTeX version 5 can be accessed online (though not printed).

Simtel

a DJGPP port (Windows 3.x; Windows'9X with support for long file names; MS-DOS, OS/2, any other OS designated as having some type of ``DOS Box'').
Begin by downloading and reading the file TeX.README.

Macintosh

CTAN (see below)

• OzTeX (shareware): systems/mac/oztex
  For information, see Andrew Trevorrow's OzTeX Web page.
• CMacTeX (shareware): systems/mac/cmactex
  For information, see Tom Kiffe's CMacTeX home page.
• DirectTeX Pro (shareware): systems/mac/directtex
• TeXgX (shareware), by Jonathan Kew, supports Apple's QuickDraw GX technology and GX ``smart'' fonts.

TeXShop, for Mac OS X:  

TeXShop is an integrated system based on the pdf flavor of teTeX. Developed by Richard Koch and others, it was introduced at the 2001 annual meeting of the TeX Users Group. TeXshop is free, released under the GPL.

iTeXMac, for Mac OS X:  

iTeXMac is also based on the pdf flavor of teTeX. Created by Jér⊚me Laurens, formerly a contributor to TeXShop, iTeXMac can handle almost any encoding, so it should be of special interest to anyone producing documents in languages with heavily accented alphabets. iTeXMac is free.

Gary Gray's ``One-stop Mac TeX shop'' at the Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics

This Web page contains pointers and links to TeX software and related utilities for Macintosh, both freeware/shareware and commercial, along with useful commentary. It also tells how to subscribe to the Textures mailing list.

Unix

TeX Live CD (see below)

CTAN (see below)

• teTeX (various common Unix systems): systems/unix/teTeX/current/distrib.
  See the teTeX homepage for additional information and shortcuts to downloading.
• Web2c: Karl Berry's comprehensive and widely used system for compiling all important TeX software in C; now maintained by Olaf Weber
  (Not recommended for beginners with limited computer experience.)
• NTeX (Linux, HPUX, AIX, IRIX5 and Ultrix4): systems/unix/ntex. According to the developer, the current release is rather old, and the project frozen until further notice.

LyX, a structured WYSIWYG-like document processor which uses LaTeX as a back end, for use with X Windows

VMS

CTAN (see below)

OpenVMS: systems/OpenVMS

Compaq OpenVMS (formerly DECUS) Web site

VMS (Alpha) ready-to-run distribution:

OpenVMS Freeware CD-Rom, Version 4.0, see TeXMF (= TeX97) under Software

Washington University in St. Louis

The Fall 1994 DECUS VMS SIG and Languages and Tools SIG collections are in the WUSTL archive. These also include material for Unix, MS-DOS and Macintosh.

Other platforms

CTAN (see below)

• Atari ST: systems/atari
• Amiga: systems/amiga

Converters: TeX to/from Word processors

A FAQ list of free and shareware converters for various systems has been compiled by Wilfried Hennings.

TeX Live CD

TeX Live is a CD-ROM containing ready-to-run TeX systems for most flavors of Unix and for Windows 95/NT.

• Version 2 of the CD was distributed with TUGboat 18 (2) and with Baskerville 6 (5&6).
• Version 3 was distributed with TUGboat 19 (1) and with Baskerville 8 (2).
• Version 4 was distributed with TUGboat 20 (1) and with the publications of several local TeX User Groups.
• Version 5 was distributed with TUGboat 21 (1) as well as with the publications of several local TeX User Groups.
• Version 6 was released in August 2001; it is being distributed to members by TUG and is also available from most of the local TeX User Groups.
• Version 7 is under construction, with expected completion in Spring 2002; suggestions or offers of assistance may be sent to the TeX Live mailing list.

The TeX Live Guide, 7th edition (documentation for the TeX Live CD), is available separately either as a PDF file or as HTML pages.

Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN)

Use the CTAN search facility, implemented by Jim Hefferon, to look for the name of a file you need, or search Graham Williams' TeX Catalogue by keyword
The TeX Catalogue contains concise descriptions of TeX and LaTeX tools and packages, mostly available from CTAN, and includes additional links to many informative Web pages and authors' home sites.
The search screen also contains pointers to other information sources,

CTAN ftp backbone sites

• U.S. (St. Michael's College, Colchester, Vermont)   tug.ctan.org
• U.K. (Cambridge University, Cambridge)   ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/
• Germany (Dante, e.V., Heidelberg)   ftp://ftp.dante.de/

For additional site information, check this list of hosts and mirrors or

finger ctan@tug.ctan.org

(or substitute one of the other backbone sites if it's closer).

To ftp directly from any of these CTAN sites:

username: anonymous, password: your.ID@your.address

root directory: tex-archive

search:  quote site index filename

The name of the root directory may be different at some mirror sites; this name is given for all mirrors shown in the list cited above.
The `quote site index' facility may not be available at some mirror sites.

A list of the current CTAN holdings is available in the root directory at any CTAN site, in the file FILES.byname (this file is large -- about 4Mb).

Stanford Archive

labrea.stanford.edu     directory:  tex

Reliable only for Knuth's TeX files (source code for TeX, Computer Modern Metafont sources, etc.)

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