Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/sources/unix/volume27/index27.1

Internet Message Format | 1993-08-08 | 16.4 KB

Subject:  v27INF1:  Introduction to comp.sources.unix
Newsgroups: comp.sources.unix,comp.sources.d
Approved: [e-mail]

Submitted-by: [e-mail] (Paul Vixie)
Posting-number: Volume 27, Info 1
Archive-name: index27.1

[ this has been updated for volume 27.  you really should read it.
  --vix ]

This is the first of several introductory articles about comp.sources.unix.
This one describes how to submit source to the newsgroup, where the
archive sites are, and how to contact them.  The companion articles list
all previously-published sources, and plans for the future.

            -Paul Vixie

--------------------
Subject: Distribution and Copyrights

The Usenet newsgroup comp.sources.unix is forwarded far and wide through
many mailing lists (including <[e-mail]>, which is the
replacement for <[e-mail]>).  If you receive comp.sources.unix
through your mailbox, or any way other than by reading Usenet articles, then
you shouldn't be contacting us; you should be contacting the ``-request''
address for the mailing list (for example, <[e-mail]>.

The <[e-mail]> mailing list receives every article posted to
the comp.sources.* newsgroups.  The moderators are not on this list and do
not participate in discussions there; the list is provided as a service to
those who don't have access to Usenet.

From the beginning, the goal of comp.sources.unix has been the widest
possible distribution of source code in the hope that it is of use to the
programming community, but with no guarantees that it won't trash your
machine.  That is generally the goal of the people who write and submit
programs.  We publish only sources which contain no redistribution
restrictions (either in time or geography or money).  If you wish to include
a copyright in work that you publish here, you are welcome to do that -- as
long as it does not prohibit redistribution.  The Berkeley BSD "Reno" or
later copyrights, and the GNU "Copyleft" or "GPL", are both considered
reasonable.

There is no "compilation copyright" on the collection known as
comp.sources.unix.  It is a cooperative effort, the result of the sites that
pass the group around, the kind souls that maintain archives, those who
improve the code that we publish, and -- most importantly -- the people who
write and submit the code.  If you want to try to make money off this
collective body of work, we will not pretend that we can stop you.

Please note that this notice in no way supercedes the copyright that
individual posters have attached to their submissions.

--------------------
Subject: Submitting source for publication

Items intended for posting or queries and problem notes should be sent to
[e-mail] or uunet!comp-sources-unix.  This is the same
place that Usenet will mail your submissions if you simply ``post'' them to
the comp.sources.unix newsgroup.  You don't _have_ to use "uunet"; any
so-called ``backbone'' host will do, such as "decwrl.dec.com" ("decwrl!...").

You will receive automatic verification of the arrival of your source in our
work queue.  Our work queue varies in length between 1 day and 1 year,
depending on the quality of the submission and the level of your desperation
to see it published.  We try to verify that a program works, and if we can't
get it to work, we may hold up posting it while we contact you to work out a
patch.  Please note that, except in rare cases, source without documentation
(ideally in "man page" source format) and a Makefile (with "all", "install"
and "clean" targets) will not be published.

--------------------
Subject:  The structure of comp.sources.unix articles

Each posting in comp.sources.unix is called an "issue"; there are a few
hundred issues to a volume.  Volume boundaries are arbitrary, and have varied
greatly in the past.  There are two types of articles in comp.sources.unix;
sources and "information postings."  They can be distinguished by the subject
line:
    Subject:  v07INF8:  Index for Volume 7 and other info
This first word in the title identifies this as the eighth info posting of
volume seven.  Similarly, the subject line shown below:
    Subject:  v07i081:  Public-domain Unix kernel
identifies this as the 81st source article in Volume 7.  Large sources are
broken up into smaller pieces, and have subject lines that look like
this:
    Subject:  v07i082:  System VI Source Distribution, Part03/08

The first few lines of an article are auxiliary headers that look like this:
    Submitted-by: [e-mail]
    Posting-number: Volume 7, Issue 82
    Archive-name: new-login
The "Submitted by" is the author of the program.  IF YOU HAVE COMMENTS ABOUT
THE SOURCES PUBLISHED IN COMP.SOURCES.UNIX, THIS IS THE PERSON TO CONTACT.
When possible, this address is in domain form, otherwise it is a UUCP bang
path relative to some major site such as "uunet."

    ***IF YOU SEND COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS TO THE MODERATORS ABOUT A
    SUBMISSION TO THE LIST, WE WILL PROBABLY DELETE THEM WITHOUT
    NOTICE***

The second line repeats the volume/issue information for the aide of NOTES
sites and automatic archiving programs.

The Archive-name is the "official" name of this source in the archive.  Large
postings will have names that look like this:
    Archive-name: kernel/Part01
Also, note that the "part number" given in the title, and the archive name
given in the auxiliary header need not be identical.


--------------------
Subject: Reporting and tracking bugs and patches to postings

You should probably subscribe to comp.sources.bugs.  We will also try to
expedite bugfix postings.  Authors should consider holding Beta tests
in alt.sources.

Some of the larger postings have established channels for distributing
bug reports (e.g., Larry Wall posts patches in comp.sources.bugs; C News
has update bulletins there and in news.software.b, etc.).  Others
are sort of "catch as catch can."

Sometimes, when new versions of previously-published software is available,
just patches are put out, usually in the form of shar files containing
input for the "patch" program, new files, etc.  Sometimes complete new
versions are put out.  Which method is used depends on the poster and
the moderator.

-->To report bugs, contact the person listed in the Submitted-By header.
-->Often there is a contact address in a README file, too.  We do not maintain
-->the sources we moderate, so don't send your bug reports to us.


--------------------
Subject: Becoming an archive site

If you collect comp.sources.unix postings and are willing and able to make
your collection available to other people, please let us know.  Benefits
include the undying gratitude of your colleagues, and a promise from us to
try to make sure you never lose an article.

--------------------
Subject: Accessing the archives

The complete archives are fairly large -- 50 to 60 megabytes, compressed.

When you request something before Volume 6, please make sure to be as
descriptive as possible as articles before then do not have official
names.  Matt Caprile has done a great amount of work in cleaning up the
index entries and old names, and more work is needed.

Some sites below will send tapes through the mail.  For those sites, send
a 1/2" mag tape WITH RETURN POSTAGE and RETURN MAILER.  Tapes without
postage or mailer will not be returned.  No other methods (COD, etc.) are
available; please don't ask.

--------------------
Subject: Listing of archive sites in no particular order

1.  Gatekeeper.dec.com [16.1.0.2] has the definitive comp.sources.unix
    archive -- the others tend to shadow this one.  Using anonymous ftp, look
    at /pub/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume*.  Grab /Index-byname or
    /Index-bytime to see what's available.  Gatekeeper's FTP server has
    an experimental "index" command; see its signon banner for details.
    If you are a UUCP neighbor of "decwrl", this directory is
    decwrl!~/pub/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume*, and the index files are
    decwrl!~/Index-byname and decwrl!~/Index-bytime.  Note that the
    Index-by{name,time} files are also available compressed (add a .Z to the
    name).  DECWRL does not have anonymous UUCP here and they do not set
    up new connections just for archive access.  Apologies.  Try osu-cis if
    you need that sort of thing.  They also support anonymous NFS and Prospero.

2.  The DECWRL ``ftpmail'' server can be used to retrieve sources (or anything
    else which can be had via Internet FTP) and cause it to be automatically
    mailed to you.  To learn more about ``ftpmail'', send mail to it:
    % echo help | Mail -s 'subject is ignored' [e-mail]
    or
    % echo help | mailx -s 'subject is ignored' decwrl\!ftpmail
    or
    $ MAIL/SUBJ="IGNORED" SYS$INPUT DECWRL::FTPMAIL
    help
    ^Z
    or whatever variation you need for your local system.

3.  The Danish UNIX user group (DKUUG) is running a mail based archive
    service at diku, it is only available to EUnet users in Denmark because
    of accounting.  It features access to the latest EUUG tape distribution
    which includes sources from comp.sources.unix and comp.sources.games.
    Also some specially collected items like GNU emacs is available.
    To get in contact with this archive service, do:
         mail diku!archive
         Subject: help
    Archive mail enjoys a 100 % surcharge compared to ordinary mail.

    EUUG also provides a tape based archive service of sources collected
    from the network and other specilally collected products like the GNU
    Emacs, X windows, MH and UNIX|stat. These are also known as the
    Conference tapes.  Available media include 9 track 1/2 inch 1600 fpi
    2400 ft, and some QIC formats. Contact EUUG, Owles Hall, Buntingford,
    Herts, SG9 9PL, England, or Frank Kuiper, CWI, Kruislaan 413, NL-1098
    SJ Amsterdam, the Netherlands for further information. Frank can also
    be reached as [e-mail] .

4.  Lee McLoughlin and Stuart McRoberts of the Department of Computing,
    Imperial College, London have set up an FTP and mail based server for
    UK sites.  All volumes are online, some may be in compressed form.
    For information about the mail based server mail to
    [e-mail] with a message body of:
    request catalogue
    topic comp.sources.unix
    request end
    They also store most of the GNU software, X windows, minix updates,
    uupc and most other software deemed useful by the management.  Mail
    the info-server with a topic line of:
    topic index
    for futher details.  For reasons of cost access is limited to UK users
    only.

5.  Ron Heiby has set up an anonymous UUCP access site.  If there is enough
    interest, we will post his full note, but for now we are just giving the
    summary info.  The machine is "mcdch1" which has a single 1200bps
    modem at 1-312-576-7902.  Send an initial carraige return, then log in
    with the name "pduucp" and password "public".  This will not work from
    8am to 6pm Chicago time Monday through Friday, so we can get our real
    work done.  The first thing you will want to do is pick up the
    detailed instructions and a list of what is available.
        uucp mcdch1!~/howto.snarf !~/MYNAME/
        uucp mcdch1!~/directory !~/MYNAME/
    Do not use full pathnames or wildcards; they will not work.
    The Systems file entry for doing this looks something like:
    (For HoneyDanBer UUCP (BNU) users.  Combine into a single line.)
        mcdch1 Wk1800-0730,Sa,Su ACU 1200 3125767902
            "" \r\c in:--in: pduucp word: public
    This is not an official service of Motorola and may be discontinued at
    any time.  The contents of the comp.sources.unix archive have been
    donated by the submitters of the files to the Usenet comp.sources.unix
    moderator for free availability throughout the community.  Motorola
    assumes no responsibility for the contents of these files, including
    the suitability for their use in any application on any hardware.
    (Some of the material, for example is known not to run on systems sold
    by Motorola.)  Any questions about suitability, problems with the
    software or documentation, or anything else related to the contents of
    the files should be directed to the persons who submitted the material
    originally (usually the authors).

6.  The archives on Munnari now completely mirror the official archives
    on Uunet.  Thanks to Robert Elz, <[e-mail]>, for giving me
    the account on that machine.  The files are in ~ftp/comp.sources.unix
    and are available in Australia for FTP or by using fetchfile.

7.  Thos Sumner at UCSF will respond to requests for material, but cannot
    promise an ongoing commitment.  Anyone requesting material via mail
    should supply a path from ucbvax.  Anyone requesting tape should
    contact him first.  Contact him at [e-mail], or
    ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.UCSF!thos

8.  There are two dial-up lines: 814 337 0348 (currently 1200/2400) and
    814 337 3159 (Telebit TB+ cycling 2400/19.2/9600/1200 - BREAK for
    speed change).  The 1200/2400 modem will be replaced by a USR Dual
    Standard (HST + V.32) cycling 2400-9600-1200 when they receive the new
    ROMs. Anonymous uucp logins are either "pdsrc" or "uucp" (functionally
    identical) or via an XBBS BBS system ("bbs" or "xbbs").  They will be
    running SCO TCP/IP shortly and will be able to offer SL/IP links to
    the archives.  There are three directories of interest: /u/pdsrc,
    /u/pubdir, and /u/uunet.  Each directory contains a file called "HELP"
    which provides basic information, plus "ls-lR" and "ls-lR.Z" files
    generated daily.  There is also an XBBS and mail-based downloads.
    Contact Michale Squires, sir-alan!mikes, for more info.

9.  UUNET provides archive access to those on the Internet.  Access is
    available directly via anonymous FTP; look on ftp.uu.net in
    /usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume*.  The UUNET archive automatically
    shadows the Gatekeeper.dec.com "official" archive, so they're
    guaranteed to be current and official.  UUNET subscribers can
    also UUCP missing files directly; ask your UUNET contact for
    information on how to do that.  In the US, anyone can have their UUCP
    dial a 900 number to get sources; contact [e-mail]
    for more info.

10. Internet sites may also retrieve archives from j.cc.purdue.edu via
    anonymous ftp.  The archive is in the directory
    ~ftp/comp.sources.unix/volumeX.  Most files are compressed; these may
    be recognized by the ".Z" suffix.  This is being managed by Jeff
    Smith, [e-mail].  They would appreciate it if you
    would avoid large file transfers in the middle of the day.

11. In France, the A.F.U.U. (French UN*X User Group), provides a tape-
    based archive service for people in France.  Sources include
    comp.sources.unix, USEnix tapes, EUUG tapes, etc.  Available media
    include 9 track 1/2 inch 1600 BPI 2400 ft, and QIC-24 cartridge
    tapes (Sun, Bull, Archive, etc. compatable). For a full list of what
    is available and to get an order form, etc., contact the AFUU offices:
        A.F.F.U.                     tel: [phone]
        11, rue Carnot               fax: [phone]
        94270 Le Kremlin-Bice^tre    e-mail: [e-mail]
        FRANCE

12. There is an FTP'able archive at Old Dominion University.
    The archive contains the Unix, X, Games, Misc, and Amiga source groups,
    as well as comp.binaries.amiga.  The unix sources are only kept
    on-line starting with Volume 10.  Anonymous FTP to Xanth.cs.odu.edu.

13. Mark Prior has set up an archive on sirius.ua.oz.au for
    comp.sources.unix (and some other groups).  Volume11 and later are
    available for retrival via for either ACSnet "fetchfile" or anonymous
    FTP (129.127.40.3).  Files are stored in sources/unix/volume<nn> by
    issue number in compressed form, (~ftp/pub/sources/unix/volume<nn> for
    ftp users).

14. Internet sites may retrieve any of the comp.sources.unix files from
    wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4] from /usenet/comp.sources.unix
    using anonymous ftp.  Washington University maintains a complete archive
    of all USENET sources and binaries groups (those with archiving headers,
    anyway) as part of its public access archives.  A description of the
    arrangement of the archives can be found in /arrangement and a complete
    list of all files currently in the archive (built nightly) is in
    /files.lst.  A mail-based archive server should also be available soon.

15. Andreas Pleschutznig of Micro Systems Software in Austria, will
    make 1/4" tapes and can also make 1.2Meg 5 1/4" diskettes of
    c.s.u and alt.sources.  Send mail to mcvax!mssx!src.

exit 0 # Just in case...