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- You are looking at PD6:<UNIX-C>000-INTRO-UNIX-SW.TXT, last updated 10-Jun-91.
-
- What is UNIX-SW?
- ----------------
- The UNIX-SW mailing list is a vehicle for announcing the availability of new
- software which runs under the UNIX Operating System. Most of this software
- is written either in C or as shell scripts, but there are a few things
- written in other languages such as Pascal.
-
- The software repository for UNIX-SW lives on the host WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL,
- a DECSYSTEM-20 machine running TOPS-20, located at White Sands Missile Range,
- New Mexico. The machine is a host on the Defense Data Network, and hence
- gives users located on other hosts the capability of directly transferring
- this software via the file transfer protocol (FTP). There is presently no
- UUCP access to the machine, but this may be changing sometime in the near
- future.
-
- UNIX-SW is not intended as a forum for discussing the software in the
- repository; this is best done by conversing via mail directly with the
- authors or contributors of the software. The mailing list's sole purpose is
- for the coordinator of the list to send out (probably more or less on a
- monthly basis) lists of software in the repository.
-
- To Subscribe to UNIX-SW
- -----------------------
- If you would like to be added to the UNIX-SW mailing list, send a message to
- UNIX-SW-REQUEST@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL. If you do not have an Internet mail
- path (i.e. you're a UUCP site) please include a path to you through a site
- such as UUNET.UU.NET or UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU. This will insure that mail can
- be delivered to you.
-
- Similarly, to be deleted from the list, change your address, and so on, you
- should send mail to UNIX-SW-REQUEST@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL.
-
- Mail archives of previous messages to UNIX-SW, should you need to look at
- them, are stored on WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL as files with names like
- PD2:<ARCHIVES.UNIX-SW>yymm.n-TXT, where "n" increments when the file exceeds
- 150 disk pages.
-
- A Quick Introduction to TOPS-20 File Specifications
- ---------------------------------------------------
- The items comprising a TOPS-20 file specification are organized from the most
- general to the most specific. The most common form of a file specification
- is:
-
- dev:<dir>name.type.gen
- where:
- dev: is a device name, a file structure name, or a
- defined logical name.
- <dir> is a directory name. You must always include
- the angle brackets around a directory name.
- name is a file name.
- .typ is a file type.
- .gen is a generation number.
-
- Device Names - DEV:
- -------------------
- A device name designates the storage device or file structure that
- contains, or will contain, the file. A device name consists of alphabetic
- characters that indicate the type of device, a number that specifies a
- particular device, and a colon that identifies the name as a device name.
- Examples of a device name are:
-
- PS: DSK: TTY: MTA1: and LPT:
-
- If you omit a device name from a file specification, the system uses your
- currently connected file structure as a default.
-
- => The device name for the UNIX-SW repository is PD6:
-
- Directory Names - <dir>
- -----------------------
- A directory name consists of up to 39 alphanumeric characters including
- hyphen, dollar sign, and underline. Directory names are always enclosed in
- brackets. Examples of directory names are:
-
- <BUORKE> <FOWLER> <TEST-PROCEDURES-LIBRARY>
-
- (You may use square brackets "[]" in place of angle brackets if you wish.)
-
- => The top-level directory for all the UNIX-SW software is called <UNIX-C>
-
- A directory may have subdirectories in it. Subdirectories are named by
- separating their names from their parents' with periods. Some examples
- are:
-
- <UNIX-SW.TAPES> <UNIX-SW.LANGUAGES> <UNIX-SW.LANGUAGES.FORTRAN>
-
- File Names - NAME
- -----------------
- Each file has a name consisting of up to 39 alphanumeric characters,
- including hyphen, dollar sign, and underline. Examples of file names are:
-
- TEST LINDRW SPCWAR LEM
-
- File Types - .TYP
- -----------------
- When you want to indicate the contents of a file or give the same file
- name to more than one file, specify a file type consisting of a period
- followed by up to three alphanumeric characters, including hyphen, dollar
- sign, and underline.
-
- => The more common file types used in the UNIX-SW repository are:
-
- .ARC A file compressed with the "arc" program.
- .C A C language source file
- .SH A shell script
- .TAR A "tar" archive
- .TXT An ordinary text file
-
- => If the file type is .DIRECTORY, then the name represents a subdirectory
- of the current directory and can be cd'ed to (see next section).
-
- => If the file type ends in "-Z", e.g. .TAR-Z, it has been compressed
- with the "compress" program.
-
- Generation Numbers - .GEN
- -------------------------
- A generation number reflects approximately the number of times a file has
- been modified. Generally only one version of a file will be stored in the
- repository. However, if you find multiple versions of a file and would
- like an earlier version, specify the generation number explicitly. If you
- do not specify a generation number, the highest generation will be used.
-
- Transferring Files With FTP
- ---------------------------
- To transfer files from the UNIX-SW repository, you should first use your
- local FTP program ("ftp" on most UNIX systems) to connect to the host
- WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL. When you are prompted for a login name enter
- "anonymous". When prompted for a password, enter "guest". You are now
- logged in, and can begin transferring files. Example using 4.2BSD FTP:
-
- % ftp simtel20.army.mil
- Connected to simtel20.army.mil.
- 220 WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL FTP Server Process 5Z(50)-7 at Sun 14-Feb-88
- Name (simtel20.army.mil:davy): anonymous
- Password (simtel20.army.mil:anonymous): guest ; password not echoed
- 331 User name ok. Password, please.
- 230 User ANONYMOUS logged in at Sun 14-Feb-88 15:48-MST, job 13.
- ftp>
-
- The simplest way to transfer files, that is, the method which saves you the
- most typing, is to change directories into the directory you want to retrieve
- files from. For starters, you can say:
-
- ftp> cd "pd6:<unix-c>"
- 250 Connected to PD6:<UNIX-C>.
- ftp>
-
- Note the quotes around the directory name; these are necessary in some
- versions of FTP to prevent the local program from interpreting the "<"
- and ">" as input and output redirection commands. Also note that you
- can use lower case letters; TOPS-20 does not distinguish case in file
- and directory names.
-
- Now, to obtain a list of the files contained in the directory, you can use
- the "dir" command:
-
- ftp> dir
- 200 Port 6.246 at host 128.46.130.83 accepted.
- 150 List started.
- PD6:<UNIX-C>
- 000-INTRO-UNIX-SW.TXT.1
- 000-MASTER-INDEX.TXT.6
- [deleted for brevity]
- EDITORS.DIRECTORY.1
- LANGUAGES.DIRECTORY.1
- [deleted for brevity]
- UNIX-C.ARC.80131
- UNIX-C.CRCLST.80131
- [deleted for brevity]
- 226 Transfer completed.
- 669 bytes received in 0.08 seconds (8.2 Kbytes/s)
- ftp>
-
- Now, suppose you want to go into one of the subdirectories you see (and in
- this case we will assume a subdirectory of that directory also). You would
- type:
-
- ftp> cd "pd6:<unix-c.languages.c>"
- 250 Connected to PD6:<UNIX-C.LANGUAGES.C>.
- ftp>
-
- Note that the directory name starts with "unix-c", but that we can omit the
- "pd6:" since we are already there. If you had not done the initial "cd"
- above, you would have to specify "pd6:" also.
-
- Now we can do another "dir" command:
-
- ftp> dir
- 200 Port 6.247 at host 128.46.130.83 accepted.
- 150 List started.
- PD6:<UNIX-C.LANGUAGES.C>
- ARITHPARSE.TAR-Z.1
- [deleted for brevity]
- VSTR.TAR-Z.1
- XCP.C.1
- 226 Transfer completed.
- 737 bytes received in 1.24 seconds (0.58 Kbytes/s)
- ftp>
-
- Finally, suppose we want to get the file XCP.C onto our machine, and call it
- "foobar.c". We would type:
-
- ftp> get xcp.c foobar.c
- 200 Port 6.248 at host 128.46.130.83 accepted.
- 150 ASCII retrieve of <UNIX-C.LANGUAGES.C>XCP.C.1 started.
- 226 Transfer completed. 8401 (8) bytes transferred.
- 8401 bytes received in 6.58 seconds (1.2 Kbytes/s)
- ftp>
-
- Note that we didn't bother with the generation number (in this case, .1);
- unless you want an earlier generation of a file, it is not necessary.
-
- And finally, to terminate the FTP session, use the "quit" command:
-
- ftp> quit
- 221 QUIT command received. Goodbye.
- %
-
- Specifics on Transferring Files
- -------------------------------
- Most of the files in the UNIX-SW repository are compressed "tar" files.
- Their file type will be ".TAR-Z". Other files, whose names end in
- ".TXT", ".C", etc. can be transferred in ASCII mode with FTP. But
- compressed files cannot be transferred this way, because they contain
- binary data.
-
- To transfer these files, you need to do something special before you use the
- FTP "get" command:
-
- - If you are on a TOPS-10, TENEX, TOPS-20, or ITS system, you can use
- "image" or "paged" mode for ALL files you transfer.
-
- - If you are on a UNIX system, you should use "ascii" mode for ASCII
- files, and "tenex" mode for binary files. To do this, you can
- enter:
-
- ftp> type ascii for ASCII files, and
-
- ftp> type l 8 (that's lower-case-L 8) or
- ftp> type tenex for BINARY files
-
- - On MULTICS, you can use "ascii" mode for ASCII files, but binary
- files require that you enter:
-
- user_ftp: !quote "type l 8"
-
- This will store the file with one 8-bit byte per 9-bit word.
-
- If you cannot use "tenex" mode and have to use "binary" mode (which is "type
- l 32"), you should get a copy of PD6:<UNIX-C.UTILS>BINTNX.C or BINTNXVMS.C.
- These programs convert files transferred in "binary" format to "tenex"
- format, like they should be.
-
- Handy Files to Know About
- -------------------------
- The following files may prove useful to you:
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C>000-MASTER-INDEX.TXT
- The master index of all files in the repository, including short
- descriptions of what each one contains.
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C>000-INTRO-UNIX-SW.TXT
- This file. Check it from time to time for any new information
- about the repository.
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C>NEW-ADDITIONS.TXT
- A listing in the same format as the *-INDEX.TXT files of additions
- to the repository since the last UNIX-SW mailing. These additions
- will also be represented in the *-INDEX.TXT files. This is the
- file which will be sent out to the UNIX-SW mailing list from
- time to time (probably monthly or bi-monthly).
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C>UNIX-C.CRCLST
- A listing of all the files and directories in the archive,
- their sizes in bytes, and a 16-bit CRC checksum.
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C>UNIX-C.ARC
- The same as UNIX-C.CRCLST, except compressed with the ARC utility.
- Sources for ARC can be found in the directory PD6:<UNIX-C.ARC-PROGS>.
-
- PD6:<UNIX-C.subdir>000-INDEX.TXT
- A file like 000-MASTER-INDEX.TXT, except for the files in this
- subdirectory only.
-
- Directories in the Respository
- ------------------------------
- The directories presently in the repository are as follows. See the file
- 000-INDEX.TXT within each directory for a list of what it contains, or see
- the file PD6:<UNIX-C>000-MASTER-INDEX.TXT for a complete listing.
-
- ARC-PROGS - Software which implements the ARC library/archive utility
- popular in the personal computer areas.
- BENCHMARKS - Various programs for benchmarking UNIX and other systems.
- CALENDARS - Programs for producing calendars, converting to and from
- various date formats, reminder services, etc.
- CKERMIT - The source for the latest UNIX versions of the KERMIT file
- transfer protocol.
- CPM - Utilities for moving data between UNIX and CP/M systems.
- DATABASE - Database utilities.
- DIR-MGMT - Tools for managing directory hierarchies.
- EDITORS - Text editors. GNU EMACS is stored in the GNU directory.
- FILE-MGMT - Tools for manipulating files.
- GNU - Software from Richard Stallman's GNU project.
- GRAPHICS - Programs to do graphics, image processing, etc.
- INFO - Miscellaneous text files that provide information about all
- sorts of things.
- KERNEL - Device drivers, system calls, and other things related to
- the UNIX kernel.
- LANGUAGES - Compileres, interpreters, cross-referencers, and subroutine
- libraries for various programming languages, including Ada,
- assembler, BASIC, C, Forth, FORTRAN, FP, LISP, LOGO,
- Modula-2, OPS5, Pascal, and Smalltalk.
- MACINTOSH - Software for moving data between UNIX systems and Apple
- Macintoshes.
- MAIL - Programs for manipulating and delivering electronic mail.
- NETWORKS - Programs for dealing with networks such as TCP/IP. UUCP
- stuff is in the TELECOM directory.
- PRINTERS - Device drivers and output filters for line printers, laser
- printers, and so on. Many programs here can be used to
- convert from one format to another.
- SYSADMIN - Tools for system administration.
- TAPES - Programs for reading and writing magnetic tapes, performing
- file system backups, etc.
- TELECOM - Programs related to telecommunications, including stuff for
- maintaining UUCP.
- TEXTPROC - Tools for text processing - text formatters, spelling
- checkers, etc.
- USENET - Tools for sending, reading, and administering the USENET
- network news.
- UTILS - Miscellaneous utility programs that don't really fit into
- one of the other categories.
- WINDOWS - Windowing systems.
- XYZMODEM - Programs which implement the XMODEM (and YMODEM and ZMODEM)
- file transfer protocol.
-
- Submitting Software to UNIX-SW
- ------------------------------
- If you have a program you'd like to submit to the repository, please send a
- message to UNIX-SW-REQUEST@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL. In the message, describe
- the program, what version(s) of UNIX it runs on, what it's for, and so on.
- I'll accept almost anything, but certain things such as games programs or
- programs which we already have a zillion versions of may be rejected.
-
- Once I have decided to accept your software, I will make arrangements with
- you to place it into the repository. This can be done any number of ways
- from having you send it to me via mail, to you FTPing it to a special
- directory on SIMTEL20, to me FTPing it from you and putting it in the
- repository myself. This is best worked out on a case-by-case basis, I think.
-
- The Obligatory Cover-Our-Behinds Statement
- ------------------------------------------
- All the software in the UNIX-SW repository is provided AS IS with NO
- WARRANTY. We cannot guarantee that it is good for any particular purpose, or
- even that it works.
-
- I make an attempt to examine the software submitted to me to at least make
- sure it doesn't contain Trojan horses and what-have-you, and the moderator of
- comp.sources.unix, where a lot of this stuff comes from, also does this.
- But, as with all free software written by strangers, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT
- YOU'RE INSTALLING BEFORE YOU INSTALL IT!
-
- Final Comments
- --------------
- I hope you find the software in the repository useful. I know that before I
- took over as coordinator I found programs I needed several times, saving
- myself a great deal of time. This is why I took over the coordination of the
- archive when I was asked; I believe something this useful should not fall
- apart just because nobody has time to take care of it.
-
- If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to send
- me some mail.
-
- John Pliler
- UNIX-SW Coordinator
- JPLILER@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL, UNIX-SW-REQUEST@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL
-