Over the years, installing files on a TeX system has become increasingly tiresome. When I started using TeX, in the 80s, most packages would say install the files where (La)TeX can find them (if they gave any advice at all on installation). While this advice was plainly good, it didn't help much since few people would want to do the contrary, and it offered no real hints. However, it didn't matter much: I found it easy, as a complete novice, to guess where the file ought to go.
TeX systems have changed a lot since then, and most modern systems use a standard called TDS (TeX Directory Structure) to specify how TeX-files should be arranged on disc. The TDS is pretty straightforward once you've read it, and it will give good a usable answer, about where to put a new file, every time. However, not many people _want_ to read it, and as a result TeX forums are forever being asked how to get TeX to find new files. (I keep rewriting the text in the UK FAQ, in this area, too -- see http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=installthings which doesn't yet mention these installation files.)
The TDS is a simple structure, and almost all files can be installed simply by putting them in the right place, and updating a single index. The CTAN network is therefore starting to hold TDS ZIP files, which have a built-in directory structure that matches the TDS. These things have to be built, of course, and we're expecting that package writers will supply them for us. This puts an extra burden on the writer; however, it should make the package user much happier, which in turn must help keep the TeX community lively and active.
Nitty gritty details (users):
Users can see whether a TDS file is available, when they view the catalogue entry for the package they propose to download. A user should download that file, and unpack it in a TDS directory to which she has access, and then generate a file index for the TDS directory tree.
The TDS directory on Unix-like systems will typically be the local tree, or the user's tree
~<userid>/texmf
Users of MiKTeX systems should not ordinarily need the TDS files; the management of updates for MiKTeX is very efficient indeed, and it is seldom as much as a week between a (free) package appearing, and there being a new (version of a) MiKTeX package being available.
However, in extremis, the user of a MiKTeX system see which trees are available using the MiKTeX Options app, Roots tab; see
http://docs.miktex.org/manual/localadditions.html
for details.
The user may generate an index using texhash under unix-like systems. On an MiKTeX system, use the Refresh FNDB button on the MiKTeX Options app General tab.
Nitty gritty details (developers):
Package writers should refer to the web page
http://www.ctan.org/tds-guidelines.html
for details of the file structure we assume. Note that the ZIP file does _not_ contain the texmf/ directory itself; it is made at the texmf/ level.
Robin Fairbairns
For the CTAN team