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2 | Getting GNU Software, 14 May 94 |
3 | Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
24c5e809 | 4 | |
462e90c9 | 5 | |
6 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim | |
7 | copies of this document provided that the copyright notice and | |
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8 | this permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor |
9 | grants the recipient permission for further redistribution as | |
10 | permitted by this notice. | |
11 | ||
24c5e809 | 12 | |
13 | * GNU and the Free Software Foundation | |
14 | ||
15 | Project GNU is organized as part of the Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
462e90c9 | 16 | The Free Software Foundation has the following goals: 1) to create GNU |
17 | as a full development/operating system. 2) to distribute GNU and | |
18 | other useful software with source code and permission to copy and | |
19 | redistribute. | |
24c5e809 | 20 | |
21 | Further information on the rationale for GNU is in file | |
462e90c9 | 22 | `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/GNU' (all files referred to are on the Internet host |
23 | prep.ai.mit.edu). | |
24c5e809 | 24 | |
462e90c9 | 25 | Information on GNU Internet mailing lists and gnUSENET newsgroups can |
26 | be found in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MAILINGLISTS'. | |
24c5e809 | 27 | |
28 | * How To Get The Software | |
29 | ||
30 | The easiest way to get a copy of the distribution is from someone else | |
31 | who has it. You need not ask for permission to do so, or tell any one | |
32 | else; just copy it. The second easiest is to ftp it over the | |
33 | Internet. The third easiest way is to uucp it. Ftp and uucp | |
462e90c9 | 34 | information is in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FTP'. |
24c5e809 | 35 | |
36 | If you cannot get a copy any of these ways, or if you would feel more | |
37 | confident getting copies straight from us, or if you would like to get | |
38 | some funds to us to help in our efforts, you can order one from the | |
462e90c9 | 39 | Free Software Foundation. See `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/DISTRIB' and |
40 | `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'. | |
41 | ||
3c59d981 | 42 | * What format are the *.gz files in? |
462e90c9 | 43 | |
44 | Because the unix `compress' utility is patented (by two separate | |
45 | patents, in fact), we cannot use it; it's not free software. | |
46 | ||
47 | Therefore, the GNU Project has chosen a new compression utility, | |
48 | `gzip', which is free of any known software patents and which tends to | |
49 | compress better anyway. As of March 1993, all compressed files in the | |
50 | GNU anonymous FTP area, `prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu', have been | |
51 | converted to the new format. Files compressed with this new | |
3c59d981 | 52 | compression program end in `.gz' (as opposed to `compress'-compressed |
462e90c9 | 53 | files, which end in `.Z'). |
54 | ||
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55 | Gzip can uncompress `compress'-compressed files and `pack'-compressed |
56 | files (which end in `.z'). This is possible because the various | |
462e90c9 | 57 | decompression algorithms are not patented---only compression is. |
58 | ||
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59 | The gzip program is available from any GNU mirror site (see |
60 | `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FTP' for a list of mirror sites) in shar, tar, or | |
61 | gzipped tar format (for those who already have a prior version of gzip | |
62 | and want faster data transmission). It works on virtually every unix | |
63 | system, MSDOS, OS/2, and VMS. | |
24c5e809 | 64 | |
65 | * Available Software | |
66 | ||
462e90c9 | 67 | ** GNU Emacs |
24c5e809 | 68 | |
462e90c9 | 69 | The GNU Emacs distribution includes: |
24c5e809 | 70 | - manual source in TeX format. |
71 | - an enhanced regex (regular expression) library. | |
72 | ||
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73 | See files `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MACHINES*' for the status of porting Emacs |
74 | to various machines and operating systems. | |
24c5e809 | 75 | |
76 | ** C Scheme - a block structured dialect of LISP. | |
77 | ||
78 | The Free Software Foundation distributes C Scheme for the MIT Scheme | |
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79 | Project on its Scheme tapes. The full ftp distribution can be gotten |
80 | via anonymous FTP from altdorf.ai.mit.edu in directory /archive. | |
24c5e809 | 81 | |
af3890bd | 82 | Problems with the C Scheme distribution and its ftp distribution |
462e90c9 | 83 | should be referred to: <bug-cscheme@martigny.ai.mit.edu>. There are |
84 | two general mailing lists: <info-cscheme@martigny.ai.mit.edu>and | |
85 | <scheme@mc.lcs.mit.edu>. Send requests to join either list to: | |
86 | <info-cscheme-request@martigny.ai.mit.edu> or | |
24c5e809 | 87 | <scheme-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu>. |
88 | ||
89 | ** Other GNU Software | |
90 | ||
462e90c9 | 91 | A full list of available software are in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS' and |
56cf8ff5 | 92 | `/pub/gnu/DESCRIPTIONS'. |
24c5e809 | 93 | |
94 | * No Warranties | |
95 | ||
96 | We distribute software in the hope that it will be useful, but without | |
97 | any warranty. No author or distributor of this software accepts | |
98 | responsibility to anyone for the consequences of using it or for | |
99 | whether it serves any particular purpose or works at all, unless he | |
100 | says so in writing. | |
101 | ||
102 | * If You Like The Software | |
103 | ||
104 | If you like the software developed and distributed by the Free | |
105 | Software Foundation, please express your satisfaction with a donation. | |
106 | Your donations will help to support the foundation and make our future | |
107 | efforts successful, including a complete development and operating | |
108 | system, called GNU (Gnu's Not Un*x), which will run Un*x user | |
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109 | programs. Please note that donations and funds raised by selling |
110 | tapes, CD-ROMs, and floppy diskettes are the major source of funding | |
462e90c9 | 111 | for our work. |
112 | ||
113 | For more information on GNU and the Foundation, contact us at Internet | |
114 | address <gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu> or the foundation's US Mail address | |
56cf8ff5 | 115 | found in file `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'. |