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253 lines
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253 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
$Id: README,v 1.9 1999/04/05 19:47:19 gdr-ftp Exp $
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This is the README file for the describe package. This package is
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designated as version 1.0.7, and consists of the following utilities:
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describe - show database entries describing the current
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status of programs
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descc - the describe source compiler
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descu - the describe source updater
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** NOTE ** The describe database itself is now shipped as a
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separate file. You can find the most recent version
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of the database at the URLs mentioned in the installation
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section.
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ABOUT DESCRIBE AND DESCC
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========================
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This is yet another project I've been sitting on for a while, but have
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finally decided to release. The basic idea of the 'describe' package
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(the descc "compiler" and describe itself) is to provide a quick, easy
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way of accessing information related to the utilities which so many
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different people are releasing these days. The reason it sat around on
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my harddrive so long is I was having qualms about its designated role in
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life. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted it to do. Well, I've decided
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to KISS for now: descc simply compiles the utility list, which I maintain,
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into a (very) simple "database" located in /usr/local/lib.
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[As of v1.0.4, this database is now in /usr/lib. gdr] [Alternatively,
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the full path given in the environment variable DESCDB will be
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used, if it is set. sb]. The companion utility 'describe' is used to
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fetch information about a particular utility from this "database".
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descc is fairly limited, as is the "database" format itself. Part of the
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KISS (or it wouldn't be out now) design philosophy ;). Usage is simple:
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when you get a new listing (I'll provide monthly updates), simply "descc
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<filename>" where <filename> is the name of the newly released update.
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descc will simply write over the old database and replace it with the
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new. (Note: No appendages are allowed by descc. See descu.)
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As always, coments are appreciated. And, moreso than on other projects,
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I'd appreciate some comments about the direction I'm going in, suggestions
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as to where to take this, etc. I have a feeling that some fields in the
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format (eg, FTP:) are rather useless, and I'd like to know what you guys
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out there think.
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James Brookes
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jamesb@ecst.csuchico.edu
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ABOUT DESCU
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===========
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I think describe and descc were really good ideas; they sure beat the
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text file list of GNO utilities that James used to keep. The one major
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shortfall I found was having to manually update the describe database
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source every time I wanted to include a new entry.
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I therefore wrote descu, the describe updater, which is also rather
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limited due to following the KISS principle.
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For completeness, I have also added the man pages describe.1, descc.8,
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and descu.8. I briefly pondered having a describe.5, but alas I was too
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lazy; you can find the file formats as part of descc.8.
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Devin Reade
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gdr@trenco.gno.org
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INSTALLATION
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============
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You can either type "dmake install", or do the following:
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cp ./describe /usr/bin
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cp ./descc /usr/sbin
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cp ./descu /usr/sbin
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cp ./describe.1 /usr/man/man1
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cp ./descc.8 ./descu.8 /usr/man/man8
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rm /usr/local/lib/describe
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rm /usr/local/bin/descc
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rm /usr/local/bin/describe
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After you have done this, type the command
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rehash
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so that gsh will be able to locate the new utilities.
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Next, you will need a current copy of the describe database. As of
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version 1.0.5, the database is no longer included with the describe
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sources. Instead, you can get it from one of the following URLs:
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ftp://ftp.gno.org/pub/apple2/gs.specific/gno/doc/desc.src.shk
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ftp://ftp.gno.org/pub/apple2/gs.specific/gno/doc/desc.db.shk
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http://www.gno/org/~gno/describe
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http://www.arrowweb.com/sbehrens/describe.htm
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The desc.src.shk file contains the describe database "source" file.
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The desc.db.shk file contains a "precompiled" database.
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If you downloaded the precompiled database archive, then you can extract
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the contained file, "describe.db", and place it directly in /usr/lib.
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If you select another location, you will have to set your DESC_DB
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environment variable. See the describe(1) man page. If you did
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this step, then you can skip extraction and compilation of the database
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source.
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If you downloaded the database source archive (desc.src.shk), it will
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extract to a file called "describe.source". You can place this file
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anywhere, but the recommended location is in /usr/lib. Next, issue
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the following command:
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/usr/sbin/descc /usr/lib/describe.source
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This will create the file /usr/lib/describe.db.
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You should periodically download a new copy of the database. The
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date the database was updated is visible in the first few lines
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of the describe.source file.
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If you have submissions for the database, the web pages mentioned above
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contain directions on how to do the submission.
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KNOWN BUGS
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==========
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The describe.source file must be sorted (keyed on the "Name" field,
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case insensitive) when being compiled by descc. Failure to ensure
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this will result describe failing to find certain entries, even if
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they belong in the database. Using the descu program to update the
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database source ensures that the source is properly sorted.
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CHANGES
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=======
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This details changes to the entire distribution.
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v1.0.7 April 1999
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Make sure that if descu's rejects file already exists, that it
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is a regular file. This prevents us from overwriting it.
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If the rejects file is empty at the end of the run, then delete it.
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Don't emit unchanged entries into the rejects file. Changes are
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based on a whitespace-insensitive and case-insensitive
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on all fields.
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In descu, fix a bug that would sometimes eliminate blank lines
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between the "FTP:" header and the description.
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Removed some dead code in descu.
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v1.0.6 February 1998
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There used to be a limit of 65k on the size of the describe
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database source when using descu. This limit was imposed
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due to a bug in ORCA/C (it is no longer clear whether
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this was a bug in malloc(3) or in array indexing code).
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As of ORCA/C v2.1.x, this bug appears to be fixed, so
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the limit was lifted.
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A couple of calls to lseek(2) didn't have their return values
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checked for errors. Fixed.
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Updated email address for Devin Reade.
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v1.0.5 January 1998
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Increased the number of characters in the name field of the
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nameEntry struct from 34 to 36. This gives an 8-byte
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alignment to the offset entry, which provides binary
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compatibility of the precompiled database file between
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the IIgs and little-endian 32-bit machines such as
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Linux boxes.
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*** THIS MEANS THAT THE PRECOMPILED DATABASE IS NO LONGER
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BINARY COMPATIBLE WITH EARLIER VERSIONS.
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Updated descu so that the "Last Updated" line in the describe
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source "header" is updated to reflect the current date
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and time (GMT, if supported).
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Fixed a bug in descu that caused the "header" to be slowly eaten,
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one character at a time.
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The describe database source file is no longer part of this
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archive. It is available separately from the url,
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above.
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Added a "Known Bugs" section and URLs on where to find the
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online database to this README. Modified the installation
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instructions a bit.
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v1.0.4 September 1997
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This package is now part of the base GNO distribution.
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Version numbers are now in lockstep.
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Some bugs were fixed in descu that cropped up when the
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describe database source file didn't already exist.
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Location of the system database has been changed to
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/usr/lib/describe.db from /usr/local/lib/describe.
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Descc will now set the file type of the database to BIN vice TXT.
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v1.03 January 1996
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descu now sorts entries correctly (longer entries
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ended up before shorter ones with 1.0.2, i.e. "calls"
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came before "cal")
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v1.02 October 1995
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descc now circumvents a bug in ORCA/C's ftell() function.
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describe can now find entries that are not all lower-case.
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describe will now print the name of entries in the case
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they were entered into the database.
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descu now sorts the describe source file case-insensitive.
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describe and descc can now find the database in a path given
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by the environment variable DESCDB. If DESCDB is not set,
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/usr/local/lib/describe is used, as before.
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A new "Shell:" field has been added to the format of the database.
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v1.01 May 1995
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Initial release for descu.
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Added -h and -v flags to describe and descc.
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Common defines and typedefs were extracted to desc.h.
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Descc now exits -1 on failure (vice 0).
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In descc, some more error checking and flushing were added. Also,
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mygets wasn't dereferencing one of its arguments properly.
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Allocated stack size was increased from 512 to 768 bytes.
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Describe and descc were modified not to be dependant on the size
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of integers.
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Ran source files through indent(1).
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v1.0 Feb 1994
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Initial release for describe and descc.
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AUTHORS
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=======
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The original describe and descc utilities and the describe format were
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written by James Brookes <jamesb@ecst.csuchico.edu>.
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The descu utility was written by Devin Reade.
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The following people have performed updates as listed:
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v1.0.6 Devin Reade <gdr@trenco.gno.org>
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v1.0.5 Devin Reade
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v1.0.4 Devin Reade
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v1.03 Soenke Behrens <sbehrens@bigfoot.com>
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v1.02 Soenke Behrens
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v1.01 Devin Reade
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LEGALESE
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========
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The describe and descc utilities are copyright (c) 1994-1997 by James
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Brookes. The descu utility is copyright (c) 1995-1997 by Devin Reade.
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These programs may be freely copied provided that the archive, including
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source files and this README, remain intact. Modified versions of these
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programs may not be distributed without the permission of the respective
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authors.
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Contact the respective authors for permission to include these programs on
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any commercial software collections. Permission is granted to Usenet sites
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and GEnie Information Services for inclusion in software archives.
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The Apple IIGS executable files distributed with this archive contain
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material from the ORCA/C Run-Time Libraries, copyright 1987-1997 by
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Byte Works, Inc. Used with permission.
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