orientation with respect to tex, auctex, tetex, texlive, etc.

["Russell L. Harris" <rlharris@oplink.net>]

I just discovered a May 2006 announcement by Thomos Esser that he has
decided not to make additional new releases of teTeX; he recommends
that those interested in teTeX join the TeXlive project.

For me, this announcement brings up the question of how teTeX, aucTeX,
TeXlive, etc., relate to the realm of TeX.  I Googled for a while, but
I found no document which provides an overview showing the role served
by the various packages.

>From Synaptic, it appears that my recent installation of Etch is using
tetex, and that neither auctex or texlive are installed.  

I have been using LaTeX for five years, but with Debian I always have
taken the system for granted -- it always has been there, and it "Just
Works".  

Is this going to change in the near future?  Where can I go for a
basic orientation and for more information on the options which are
available to me?  

RLH