-*- text -*- Getting GNU Software, 14 May 94 Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies of this document provided that the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor grants the recipient permission for further redistribution as permitted by this notice. * GNU and the Free Software Foundation Project GNU is organized as part of the Free Software Foundation, Inc. The Free Software Foundation has the following goals: 1) to create GNU as a full development/operating system. 2) to distribute GNU and other useful software with source code and permission to copy and redistribute. Further information on the rationale for GNU is in file `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/GNU' (all files referred to are on the Internet host prep.ai.mit.edu). Information on GNU Internet mailing lists and gnUSENET newsgroups can be found in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MAILINGLISTS'. * How To Get The Software The easiest way to get a copy of the distribution is from someone else who has it. You need not ask for permission to do so, or tell any one else; just copy it. The second easiest is to ftp it over the Internet. The third easiest way is to uucp it. Ftp and uucp information is in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FTP'. If you cannot get a copy any of these ways, or if you would feel more confident getting copies straight from us, or if you would like to get some funds to us to help in our efforts, you can order one from the Free Software Foundation. See `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/DISTRIB' and `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'. * What format are the *.gz files in? Because the unix `compress' utility is patented (by two separate patents, in fact), we cannot use it; it's not free software. Therefore, the GNU Project has chosen a new compression utility, `gzip', which is free of any known software patents and which tends to compress better anyway. As of March 1993, all compressed files in the GNU anonymous FTP area, `prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu', have been converted to the new format. Files compressed with this new compression program end in `.gz' (as opposed to `compress'-compressed files, which end in `.Z'). Gzip can uncompress `compress'-compressed files and `pack'-compressed files (which end in `.z'). This is possible because the various decompression algorithms are not patented---only compression is. The gzip program is available from any GNU mirror site (see `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FTP' for a list of mirror sites) in shar, tar, or gzipped tar format (for those who already have a prior version of gzip and want faster data transmission). It works on virtually every unix system, MSDOS, OS/2, and VMS. * Available Software ** GNU Emacs The GNU Emacs distribution includes: - manual source in TeX format. - an enhanced regex (regular expression) library. See files `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/MACHINES*' for the status of porting Emacs to various machines and operating systems. ** C Scheme - a block structured dialect of LISP. The Free Software Foundation distributes C Scheme for the MIT Scheme Project on its Scheme tapes. The full ftp distribution can be gotten via anonymous FTP from altdorf.ai.mit.edu in directory /archive. Problems with the C Scheme distribution and its ftp distribution should be referred to: . There are two general mailing lists: and . Send requests to join either list to: or . ** Other GNU Software A full list of available software are in `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS' and `/pub/gnu/DESCRIPTIONS'. * No Warranties We distribute software in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty. No author or distributor of this software accepts responsibility to anyone for the consequences of using it or for whether it serves any particular purpose or works at all, unless he says so in writing. * If You Like The Software If you like the software developed and distributed by the Free Software Foundation, please express your satisfaction with a donation. Your donations will help to support the foundation and make our future efforts successful, including a complete development and operating system, called GNU (Gnu's Not Un*x), which will run Un*x user programs. Please note that donations and funds raised by selling tapes, CD-ROMs, and floppy diskettes are the major source of funding for our work. For more information on GNU and the Foundation, contact us at Internet address or the foundation's US Mail address found in file `/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/ORDERS'.