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:
On-line details of TeX Live are available at http://www.tug.org/texlive.html
The current release dates from 1995 but a new version, which will have an additional focus on Windows support, is due late in 1997.
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 CDROMWalnut Creek (who run one of the major CTAN mirrors) are rumoured to be producing a new release of their disc set in 1997.
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)
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 Freewareor 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.
370 Altair Way, Suite 150
Sunnyvale CA 94086
USA
Tel: (+1) 408 433 9662
Fax: (+1) 408 433 0727
Email: ptf@cfcl.com