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