| 1 | -*- text -*- |
| 2 | Getting GNU Software, 14 May 94 |
| 3 | Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| 4 | |
| 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, and that the distributor |
| 9 | grants the recipient permission for further redistribution as |
| 10 | permitted by this notice. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | * GNU and the Free Software Foundation |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Project GNU is organized as part of the Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| 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. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Further information on the rationale for GNU is in file |
| 22 | `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/GNU' (all files referred to are on the Internet host |
| 23 | prep.ai.mit.edu). |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Information on GNU Internet mailing lists and gnUSENET newsgroups can |
| 26 | be found in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MAILINGLISTS'. |
| 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 |
| 34 | information is in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FTP'. |
| 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 |
| 39 | Free Software Foundation. See `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/DISTRIB' and |
| 40 | `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | * What format are the *.gz files in? |
| 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 |
| 52 | compression program end in `.gz' (as opposed to `compress'-compressed |
| 53 | files, which end in `.Z'). |
| 54 | |
| 55 | Gzip can uncompress `compress'-compressed files and `pack'-compressed |
| 56 | files (which end in `.z'). This is possible because the various |
| 57 | decompression algorithms are not patented---only compression is. |
| 58 | |
| 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. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | * Available Software |
| 66 | |
| 67 | ** GNU Emacs |
| 68 | |
| 69 | The GNU Emacs distribution includes: |
| 70 | - manual source in TeX format. |
| 71 | - an enhanced regex (regular expression) library. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | See files `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MACHINES*' for the status of porting Emacs |
| 74 | to various machines and operating systems. |
| 75 | |
| 76 | ** C Scheme - a block structured dialect of LISP. |
| 77 | |
| 78 | The Free Software Foundation distributes C Scheme for the MIT Scheme |
| 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. |
| 81 | |
| 82 | Problems with the C Scheme distribution and its ftp distribution |
| 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 |
| 87 | <scheme-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu>. |
| 88 | |
| 89 | ** Other GNU Software |
| 90 | |
| 91 | A full list of available software are in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS' and |
| 92 | `/pub/gnu/DESCRIPTIONS'. |
| 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 |
| 109 | programs. Please note that donations and funds raised by selling |
| 110 | tapes, CD-ROMs, and floppy diskettes are the major source of funding |
| 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 |
| 115 | found in file `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'. |