textfiles/programming/gnu-ms.txt

MSDOS file for the GNUish MSDOS project.
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Last updated: 92-01-30

This file is ftp'able as prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/MicrosPorts/MSDOS.
Please kindly report errors/omissions to <pinard@iro.umontreal.ca>.
A list of various e-mail addresses appears at the end of this file.

.--------------------.
| PROJECT DEFINITION |
`--------------------'

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is not directly interested in
integrating or maintaining ports of GNU software to MSDOS, because of
limited resources.  These activities take time away from finishing a
complete standalone GNU, which FSF and many in the GNU Project
considers much more important.

However, Thorsten Ohl has started the organized distribution of such
ports under the name `GNUish MSDOS project'.  The overall idea is to
provide a GNU like environment for MSDOS, easy to get, and easy to
install, as far as possible.  Questions regarding the GNUish MS-DOS
project should be directed to the mailing list

   help-gnu-msdos@sun.soe.clarkson.edu

(see below for how to subscribe).

The GNUish MSDOS subdirectory contains both MSDOS ports of GNU
software and MSDOS replacements for non-ported GNU software, the
collective whole being dubbed the "GNUish MSDOS" project.

When several ports of the same tool exist, one of them has been
selected by the moderator of this project.  This does not means that
the selected port is the best possible, it means however that the port
is quite good.  Nobody should feel offended by any selection.

Some tools are possibly dangerous if you do not thoroughly understand
their usage (v.g. `rm -r *').  You ought to know what you are doing.
YOU USE THESE TOOLS AT YOUR OWN RISK.  You *were* warned!

.------------------.
| LEGAL CONDITIONS |
`------------------'

These programs are free software; you can redistribute them and/or
modify them under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your
option) any later version.

These programs are distributed in the hope that they will be useful, BUT
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY WHATSOEVER, without even the implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  See the GNU
General Public License (the file COPYING) for more details.

.-----------------------.
| PROJECT MAILING LISTS |
`-----------------------'

There are some mailing lists to discuss MSDOS ports of GNU software.
They include:

   bug-gnu-msdos@sun.soe.clarkson.edu     bug reports, enhancements.
   help-gnu-msdos@sun.soe.clarkson.edu    questions and answers.
   info-gnu-msdos@sun.soe.clarkson.edu    announcements, moderated.

To get on the list info-gnu-msdos@sun.soe.clarkson.edu, or to get off
this list, send a request to:
  
   listserv@sun.soe.clarkson.edu.

For example, to become subscribed to the list, send a message whose
contents (not the Subject) is:

   add info-gnu-msdos

If you don't know how to use a listserv, send it a request for help.
Do this by sending it a mail message consisting of the word "help",
without quotes, of course.
  
The lists are not currently digestified, and are open to subscription
by anyone.  Problems with the mailing lists should be directed to the
appropriate -request list.  For the newcomers: an Internet standard
for mailing lists is to provide a mail alias that has the same name as
the list, with "-request" appended, e.g. info-gnu-msdos-request.

Also, please consider these lists as GNU project subsidiary mailing
lists.  They were made up after the GNUish MSDOS project, not before,
and their intent is to help to keep to project moving, *not* to change
its definition or meaning.  There are several lists already and other
means to discuss non-GNUish software for MSDOS, as there are lists to
discuss the pros and cons of the GNU project itself.

.-------------------.
| FTP ARCHIVE SITES |
`-------------------'

There is currently no room on prep.ai.mit.edu to put these files up
for ftp.  If prep get more disk space, they might become available.
The collection of programs known as the GNUish MSDOS project is still
available for ftp at the following addresses.  [Upload directories are
listed for the moderator's convenience only].

* vulcan.phyast.pitt.edu [130.49.33.16], in pub/pc/gnudos.

   I usually upload the GNUish MSDOS programs for Roberto on site
   vulcan first.  [incoming]

* wsmr-simtel20.army.mil [192.88.110.20], in pd1:<msdos.gnuish>.

   David repacks from .zoo to .arc before uploading, because SIMTEL20
   (which uses TOPS20) does not support .zoo files.

* wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4], in mirrors/msdos/gnuish.

   This is a mirror of SIMTEL20's GNUish directory.  For system
   problems, contact <archives@wuarchive.wustl.edu>.

* ocf.berkeley.edu [128.32.184.254], in pub/GNU/gnuish-msdos.
  sandstrom.berkeley.edu [128.32.234.18], alternatively.

   Eric told me that ocf crashes often, sometimes preventing the
   regular updating of archives.  [pub/GNU/uploads]

* funic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100], in pub/msdos/utilities/gnuish.
	
   Petri automatically gets new products from SIMTEL20, and repacks
   files from .arc to .lzh.  [pub/msdos/incoming]

.-------------.
| SOURCE CODE |
`-------------'

Due to space considerations, only the patches relative to the official
GNU source code (with the source code found on prep.ai.mit.edu being
considered "official") and custom-written source code are provided.
In order to re-compile the GNUish MSDOS project on your computer, you
need to first obtain the official GNU source code.  GNU documentation
(if any) can also be found within the official GNU source code.

The Free Software Foundation has set up an anonymous FTP site for GNU
software on prep.ai.mit.edu [18.71.0.38].  The distributions present
on that machine are considered "official" and are the best ones to use
with the GNUish MSDOS project.

This might change in the near future.  The GNU General Public License
article 3a) requires that the complete source code be available where
programs are distributed in object code or executable form, and it is
quite possible that the current setup violates this rule.

.-----------------.
| EXECUTABLE CODE |
`-----------------'

For convenience, ready-to-execute binaries are also provided for those
who do not have the necessary compilers, or do not feel like using
them.

User documentation is usually not provided, at least for now, beyond
the documentation provided in the official GNU distribution.  This
also might change in the near future, for already said reasons.

.----------------------.
| ZOO ARCHIVING FORMAT |
`----------------------'

The `zoo' format originated from Rahul Dhesi.  This archive format is
popular and portable, used in many places, notably for the Usenet
comp.binaries.ibm.pc exchange group.  The GNUish MSDOS selected it
because the user interface is nice, it works both on DOS and UNIX, is
well debugged, and all the sources are available, copylefted.  Also,
the tool is already available almost everywhere.

There are three main tools to unpack a zoo archive:

	zoo - the complete, all featured, full-fledged package
	looz - a small list and unzoo package, but for MSDOS only
	booz - a basic, minimalist, very portable unzoo program

It is true that the compression used is not the highest in the field
of archivers, but still, it is quite sufficient for GNUish MSDOS
purposes.  Finally, there is new zoo is in the works which will
improve this particular aspect, and which is naturally expected to
have the high quality of the current version.

.-----------------------.
| GNUISH MSDOS CONTENTS |
`-----------------------'

	File		Notes	Description or official sources
	
	cpio11.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/cpio-1.1.tar.Z
	diff114.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/diff-1.14.tar.Z
	diff115.zoo	6	prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/diff-1.15.tar.Z
	fgrep11.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/fgrep-1.1.tar.Z
	find12.zoo	1	prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/find-1.2.tar.Z
	flex236.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/flex-2.3.6.tar.Z
	futil14.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/fileutils-1.4.tar.Z
	gdbm14.zoo	3	prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/gdbm-1.4.tar.Z
	gnulib0.zoo	3,4	Port of some usual GNU routines
	gptx01.zoo	4	Ask <pinard@iro.umontreal.ca> for sources
	grep15.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/grep-1.5.tar.Z
	inden11.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/indent-1.1.tar.Z
	m4v05.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/m4.tar.Z
	make358.zoo	2	prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/make-3.58.tar.Z
	mkinf10.zoo	4,5	prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/elisp.tar.Z
	sed106.zoo		prep.ai.mit.edu: pub/gnu/sed-1.06.tar.Z
	sort03.zoo	4	Future GNU sort, version 0.3
	swalib0.zoo	2,3	Swapping library from <td12@ddagsi3.bitnet>
	
	  1	use `zoo x//' to restore sub-directories
	  2	requires Microsoft C compiler at level 6.0
	  3	this is a source library, not a user program
	  4	GNUish, but unofficial or unreleased GNU product
	  5	includes both makeinfo *and* a stand-alone Info reader
	  6	unavailable at ocf.berkeley.edu archive

For those interested, the filename for each of packages is selected
according to the following pattern:

	<program><version><release><sequence>.zoo

In this syntax, <program> is a string of three to six characters to
identify the product, v.g. `futil' indicates GNU file utilities.
<version> is a series of one to three digits indicating the version,
v.g. `14' for `1.4', 358 for `3.58' or `0' for unreleased yet; note
that the decimal point is not necessarily implied after the first
digit.  The <release> is nothing for the first edition in GNUish MSDOS
archives, but might be a single letter for subsequent editions, like
`a', `b', `c', etc. in turn.  For big archives, <sequence> might be
used as a single digit indicating the split sequence.

.---------------------------------.
| THE PORTED GNU GCC/G++ COMPILER |
`---------------------------------'

DJ Delorie <dj@ctron.com> made a 386/DOS port of GNU gcc/g++, with
full libraries, sources, debugger, graphics support.  It creates
32-bit applications with full virtual memory up to 128M RAM and 128M
disk.  It also supports SuperVGA up to 1024x768 (256-color mode only).

This *requires* a 80386 IBM compatible running DOS 3.0 or higher.  The
compiler also requires a 80387 chip for transendentals (exp, sin, etc)
until the emulator is complete.  You will need oodles of memory (but
can run in 640K, just slower), and ~4Mb of hard drive space.

DJ Delorie's port of GNU C/C++ can be ftp'ed anonymously from:

   grape.ecs.clarkson.edu[128.153.28.129] in pub/msdos/djgpp/.

You can also use a mail server by sending a message with no particular
`Subject:' to archive-server@sun.soe.clarkson.edu, and with these
three lines as message contents:

	help
	index msdos/djgpp
	send msdos/djgpp readme

There are readme notes, documentation, FAQ, etc.  The file djgpp.zip,
taking 2.2 Megabytes, contains everything, but is not available on
sun.soe.clarkson.edu.  Files djgppzip.000 through djgppzip.063 contain
a split version of djgpp.zip: use the command "merge djgppzip
djgpp.zip" to build djgpp.zip.  Files split.c, merge.c and their .exe
counterparts support the splitting and merging of large binaries.

Please download and *read* the readme file before downloading the
remainder of the files.  This will prevent downloading 2.2M of stuff
you may not be able to use.

.--------------.
| FUTURE FILES |
`--------------'

The following GNU tools have already been ported to DOS, and should be
added later in the GNUish MSDOS subdirectory or at least referenced
this document:

	bison chess compress [ce]tags gawk patch perl rcs
	readline tar

A slightly corrected version of flex is waiting to be uploaded to the
archive sites.

The following replacement tools could be made available in the GNUish
MSDOS subdirectory, in the future:

	freemacs or jove	no editor war, please :-)
	ms_sh162		waiting for bash :-)
	uxutl162		only some of them

.----------------------------.
| THANKS TO THE CONTRIBUTORS |
`----------------------------'

The GNUish MSDOS project originated from Thorsten Ohl.  It has been
moderated by Thorsten Ohl from its beginning until now.

This MSDOS file (previously called README) is the work of various
people, collected by Francois Pinard.  The FSF disclaimer is from
Richard Stallman.

The organization and maintainance of the archive sites is the fact of
Francois Pinard, Roberto Gomez, Eric Ng, Petri Hartoma, David Camp,
Keith Petersen, Chris Myers, Dave Curry and Russ Nelson.

The mailing lists were organized by David Camp, Len Tower and Russ
Nelson.

Ports were made by Thorsten Ohl and DJ Delorie.

Here are the electronic addresses of quoted people:

	Chris Myers <chris@wugate.wustl.edu>
	David A. Curry <davy@erg.sri.com>
	DJ Delorie <dj@ctron.com>
	David J. Camp <david@wubios.wustl.edu>
	Eric Ng <erc@irss.njit.edu>
	Francois Pinard <pinard@iro.umontreal.ca>
	Keith Petersen <w8sdz@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil>
	Leonard Tower Jr. <tower@ai.mit.edu>
	Rahul Dhesi <cirrusl!dhesi>
	Richard Stallman <rms@ai.mit.edu>
	Roberto Gomez <roberto@bondi.phyast.pitt.edu>
	Russel Nelson <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>
	Thorsten Ohl <td12@ddagsi3.bitnet>
	Petri Hartoma <msdos1@nic.funet.fi>

End of MSDOS file