jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (04/15/91)
[$Id: csw_faq,v 1.2 91/04/14 16:54:16 jik Exp $] This posting discusses the resources available to people who are looking for source code. Please read it before posting source code requests to comp.sources.wanted, alt.sources.wanted or any other newsgroup. Comments about, suggestions about or corrections to this posting are welcomed. How do you find sources? The method you use for locating sources depends on exactly what you are looking for. Here are several possible routes to follow; pick the one that best suits your needs. The descriptions below mention general techniques (e.g. "Check the Usenet source newsgroup indices.") which are described in detail later in this posting. These descriptions are listed in order from most preferred to least preferred solution. You will notice that "Post in comp.sources.wanted" is listed last. This is because posting a message in comp.sources.wanted should only be used as a last resort when you have exhausted all other alternatives. Once you have located your source code using the instructions below, you can retrieve it via E-mail or anonymous ftp (depending on what is accessible to you and on where the code is archived); this is described in detail later in this posting. 1. "I know the name of the program I want, but I don't know where to get it." a. Check the indices for the various main Usenet source newsgroups. b. Check with archie. c. Check Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory. d. Check comp.archives. e. Post to comp.sources.wanted. 2. "I know the name of the program I want, and I know which newsgroup it was posted in, but either (a) I didn't get some of the parts of it, or (b) I didn't save it when it was posted and now I find that I need it." DO NOT post a message to comp.sources.wanted saying, "I didn't save all of this when it was archived, could someone please send it to me?" If the code was posted in a source newsgroup, then it is archived somewhere. Follow the instructions below for retrieving code from Usenet source newsgroup archives. 3. "I am looking for source code that does <x>." Follow the same process as (1) above, but instead of searching for the name of the program, search for keywords in your description of what you're looking for. For example, if you're looking for graphical clocks that run under the X window system, you might search for the word "clock" in the index for comp.sources.x. 4. "I am looking for source code that does <x>," where <x> is something algorithmic or mathematical that is commonly solved with computers. Check AT&T's "netlib" archive, and if that doesn't work, proceed as in (3) above. 5. "I am looking for source code that does <x> under the X window system." As in (3), but after checking the Usenet source newsgroup indices (most importantly, that of comp.sources.x), check the anonymous ftp archive on export.lcs.mit.edu. See also the postings entitled "Frequently Asked Questions about X with Answers," posted monthly in comp.windows.x and various other X-related newsgroups. Those postings discuss in detail how to get X sources of various sorts. If these postings have expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 6. "I'm looking for neat programs to run on my <x> machine." Don't post questions like this. The amount of source code available on the Usenet is incredible; you are essentially asking for a summary of all of it. Browse through the various archives mentioned in this posting if you want to find something like this. 7. "I'm looking for NetNews software <x>." See the posting entitled "USENET Software: History and Sources," posted periodically in news.admin and news.announce.newusers. If it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 8. "I'm looking for the source code for Unix." Most implementations of Unix contain source code that is, at least to some extent, proprietary and not freely redistributable. If you are looking for the source code to a particular Unix utility, you may have better luck looking for a public-domain reimplementation of that utility, using (1) or (3) above. Furthermore, the Free Software Foundation may distribute a freely redistributable version of the utility, protected by the Gnu Public License (Jon Granrose's list mentions many anonymous ftp archive sites for FSF software; furthermore, the hrc mail server archives some FSF software). Finally, if the utility was written by the folks who do the BSD variant of Unix, then it might be available in the various BSD source archives (the best one is probably gatekeeper.dec.com) on the net (see Jon Granrose's list to find them). 9. "I'm looking for a dictionary," or, "I'm looking for a thesaurus." There aren't any freely redistributable dictionary or thesaurus databases. If you've already got the database (e.g. on a NeXT machine), you may be able to find sources for code to manipulate it; see (3) above. If you don't, then you probably aren't going to get any useful answers if you ask this question. Searching techniques in detail 1. Usenet source newsgroups There are many Usenet newsgroups in which source code is posted, and most of them are archived. They include: alt.sources comp.sources.3b1 comp.sources.acorn comp.sources.amiga comp.sources.apple2 comp.sources.atari.st comp.sources.games comp.sources.mac comp.sources.misc comp.sources.sun comp.sources.unix comp.sources.x vmsnet.sources vmsnet.sources.games If you're looking for software for a particular machine or operating system, you should check the source archives that are appropriate (e.g. checking "comp.sources.mac" if you're looking for programs to run under SunOS probably wouldn't be very profitable), as well as the general archives such as alt.sources or comp.sources.misc. Sites that archive Usenet source newsgroups usually provide some method of getting an index of the files in each newsgroup's archive. If you are accessing an anonymous ftp archive, then this index will usually appear as a file called "index" or "Index" in the top-level archive of the newsgroup, or in each volume of the newsgroup's archive. If you are accessing a mail archive, then the instructions for using that archive should explain how to get indices of the newsgroups that are archived. To find anonymous ftp archives of Usenet newsgroups, check Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory (see below). The most well-known Usenet newsgroup archive is probably ftp.uu.net, which archives comp.sources.3b1, comp.sources.amiga, comp.sources.games, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.sun, comp.sources.unix, and comp.sources.x, among other things. Another large Usenet archive site is wuarchive.wustl.edu, which archives alt.sources, comp.sources.mac, and comp.sources.apple2, in addition to most of the newsgroups archived on ftp.uu.net. The vmsnet newsgroups are archived on black.cerritos.edu and acfcluster.nyu.edu. See also the posting "Monthly info posting: vmsnet.sources archive sites" in vmsnet.sources.d and comp.os.vms; if it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. The mail archive server on hrc.UUCP (see below) archives alt.sources, comp.sources.unix, comp.sources.games, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.x, and comp.sources.sun, among other things. 2. The "archie" database "Archie" is a database of anonymous ftp sites and their contents. The software for it was written by the "Archie Group" at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and they maintain the database as well. "Archie" keeps track of the entire contents of a very large number of anonymous ftp sites, and allows you to search for files on those sites using various different kinds of filename searches. Archie also has a software description database (with contents similar to the output of the "whatis" command under Unix), on which you can do keyword searches. If you have Internet access, then you access archie by telnet'ing to the host quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (132.206.2.3 or 132.206.51.1) and logging in as "archie" with no password. Type "help" at that point for more information. If you do not have Internet access, then send a mail message to archie@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca with "help" in the body of the message to find out how to access archie via mail. Note that the mail interface to archie does not currently provide all of the functionality that the interactive interface provides; for example, the software description database is not accessible through the mail interface. 3. Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory Jon Granrose maintains an extensive list of anonymous ftp sites and overviews of their contents. The list is posted monthly to comp.misc, comp.sources.wanted and alt.sources.wanted. If it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 4. Comp.archives The comp.archives newsgroup, moderated by Ed Vielmetti, contains announcements of archive sites and their contents. If you cannot find what you're looking for in the comp.archives postings available at your site at any given time, then you can read the newsgroup for a while and watch for new postings that are of interest to you, or you can try to find an archive site that archives the postings in comp.archives. One such site is the anonymous ftp archives on wuarchive.wustl.edu. 5. Comp.sources.wanted When you post a message to comp.sources.wanted or alt.sources.wanted, the important thing to remember is to BE SPECIFIC. If you're working under Unix, make sure to mention that; possibly, mention even what type of Unix. If you're not working under Unix, make sure to mention what operating system and machine type you *are* working under. Remember to choose a meaningful Subject line for your message; something like, "Can you help me?" is very unhelpful to people who ARE willing to help, and may just cause some of them to not bother reading your posting. Try to summarize what you're looking for meaningfully in your Subject line. Also, it is usually a good idea to ask for people to send you E-mail rather than posting responses. Say that if enough people write to you and ask for copies of whatever responses you get, then you'll summarize the responses in a later posting to the newsgroup, and if that happens, then DO post the summary. Finally, don't say, "Would someone please mail me <x>?" Say, "Would someone please tell me where I can get <x>, or what's available that does <x>? If you can mail it to me, please let me know, and I'll let you know if I want you to." This avoids the problem of several people mailing you what you requested and overflowing your mailbox. File retrieval techniques in detail 1. Anonymous ftp If you are on a site that is connected to the Internet and allows its users to ftp out to other Internet sites, then you have anonymous ftp access. The usual procedure for using anonymous ftp is to type the command "ftp machine-name", where "machine-name" is the name of the machine to which you want to connect, and then to use "anonymous" as the username and "user@host" (i.e. your E-mail address) as the password when you are prompted for it by ftp. Type "help" inside ftp to get a list of commands, and/or read the man page for ftp, or any other documentation about it available at your site for more information. If they don't answer your question, then ask someone at your site for help. If you don't have Internet and ftp access, then you can use the BITFTP server to retrieve files from anonymous ftp archives. However, you should only use BITFTP when the same files are not available form a dedicated mail archive server. See the BITFTP instructions below. 2. Hrc mail archive As mentioned above, the UUCP host "hrc" maintains an archive of Usenet source newsgroups and other things. To find out how to use it, send mail to "hrc!archives", or "archives@hrc.UUCP", or whatever format your site uses to send mail to the user "archives" on the machine "hrc", and include the following commands in the body of the message: send path <address> send help You should replace <address> with a path from hrc to you. If you know a prominent UUCP site that has you in its path, then your path can start at that site, e.g. "uunet!mit-athena!jik" (PLEASE don't use that address, or I'll get the responses to your requests!). If you're on a site that has a name registered with the Internet name servers, you can use "uunet!athena.mit.edu!jik". 3. Uunet mail archive Uunet.uu.net provides E-mail access to the sources it archived (see the discussion about ftp.uu.net above for some idea of what is available). The address to which to send requests is "netlib@uunet.uu.net". You can send a message containing "help" in its body for more information. 4. BITFTP The BITFTP server, run by Princeton University, allows you to retrieve via E-mail files at anonymous ftp archive sites. To find out how to use it, send mail to "bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu" with "help" in the body. 5. Periodic posting archive As mentioned above, The machine pit-manager.mit.edu (18.72.1.58) maintains an archive of periodic Usenet postings. You can access it via anonymous ftp, or via mail server. To find out how to use the mail server, send a message to "mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu" with Subject "help". Jonathan Kamens USnail: MIT Project Athena 11 Ashford Terrace jik@Athena.MIT.EDU Allston, MA 02134 Office: 617-253-8085 Home: 617-782-0710
jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (05/15/91)
[$Id: csw_faq,v 1.8 91/04/29 08:07:40 jik Exp $] I. Table of contents This article contains the following sections. I. Table of contents II. Introduction III. How do you find sources? IV. Things not do do V. Searching techniques in detail 1. Usenet source newsgroups 2. The "archie" database 3. Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory 4. Comp.archives 5. Comp.sources.wanted VI. File retrieval techniques in detail 1. Anonymous ftp 2. Hrc mail archive 3. Uunet mail archive 4. BITFTP 5. Anonymous UUCP archives 6. Periodic posting archives 7. AT&T's netlib archive To find a particular section, search forward for a line beginning with the Roman numeral corresponding to the desired section. For example, search forward for "IV." at the beginning of the line to find the section entitled "Things not to do". II. Introduction This posting discusses the resources available to people who are looking for source code. Please read it before posting source code requests to comp.sources.wanted, alt.sources.wanted or any other newsgroup. Comments about, suggestions about or corrections to this posting are welcomed. III. How do you find sources? The method you use for locating sources depends on exactly what you are looking for. Here are several possible routes to follow; pick the one that best suits your needs. The descriptions below mention general techniques (e.g. "Check the Usenet source newsgroup indices.") which are described in detail later in this posting. These descriptions are listed in order from most preferred to least preferred solution. You will notice that "Post in comp.sources.wanted" is listed last. This is because posting a message in comp.sources.wanted should only be used as a last resort when you have exhausted all other alternatives. Once you have located your source code using the instructions below, you can retrieve it via E-mail or anonymous ftp (depending on what is accessible to you and on where the code is archived); this is described in detail later in this posting. Before following *any* of the routes below, the first thing you should do is exhaust the local resources that are available to you. Often, a program that you are looking for will already be accessible somewhere on your system. Since each site has different local resources, it's impossible to give details here about the resources at any specific site. All that can be said is, "Find someone at your site to ask." Nearly every site has someone whose job it is to answer questions from other users, and the sites that don't have someone doing it officially often have someone doing it unofficially. If you cannot find what you want after checking things out locally, or if you can't find anyone to ask, then proceed as follows. 1. "I know the name of the program I want, but I don't know where to get it." a. Check the indices for the various main Usenet source newsgroups. b. Check with archie. c. Check Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory. d. Check comp.archives. e. Post to comp.sources.wanted. 2. "I know the name of the program I want, and I know which newsgroup it was posted in, but either (a) I didn't get some of the parts of it, or (b) I didn't save it when it was posted and now I find that I need it." DO NOT post a message to comp.sources.wanted saying, "I didn't save all of this when it was archived, could someone please send it to me?" If the code was posted in a source newsgroup, then it is archived somewhere. Follow the instructions below for retrieving code from Usenet source newsgroup archives. 3. "I am looking for source code that does <x>." Follow the same process as (1) above, but instead of searching for the name of the program, search for keywords in your description of what you're looking for. For example, if you're looking for graphical clocks that run under the X window system, you might search for the word "clock" in the index for comp.sources.x. 4. "I am looking for source code that does <x>," where <x> is something algorithmic or mathematical that is commonly solved with computers. Check AT&T's "netlib" archive, and if that doesn't work, proceed as in (3) above. 5. "I am looking for source code that does <x> under the X window system." As in (3), but after checking the Usenet source newsgroup indices (most importantly, that of comp.sources.x), check the anonymous ftp archive on export.lcs.mit.edu. See also the postings entitled "Frequently Asked Questions about X with Answers," posted monthly in comp.windows.x and various other X-related newsgroups. Those postings discuss in detail how to get X sources of various sorts. If these postings have expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 6. "I'm looking for neat programs to run on my <x> machine." Don't post questions like this. The amount of source code available on the Usenet is incredible; you are essentially asking for a summary of all of it. Browse through the various archives mentioned in this posting if you want to find something like this. 7. "I'm looking for NetNews software <x>." See the posting entitled "USENET Software: History and Sources," posted periodically in news.admin and news.announce.newusers. If it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 8. "I'm looking for the source code for Unix." Most implementations of Unix contain source code that is, at least to some extent, proprietary and not freely redistributable. If you are looking for the source code to a particular Unix utility, you may have better luck looking for a public-domain reimplementation of that utility, using (1) or (3) above. Furthermore, the Free Software Foundation may distribute a freely redistributable version of the utility, protected by the Gnu Public License (Jon Granrose's list mentions many anonymous ftp archive sites for FSF software; furthermore, the hrc mail server archives some FSF software). Finally, if the utility was written by the folks who do the BSD variant of Unix, then it might be available in the various BSD source archives (the best one is probably gatekeeper.dec.com; ftp.uu.net has a bsd-sources directory too, and it contains some sources that are not in the gatekeeper archive, but the sources there are for 4.3reno BSD and might be difficult to compile under other types of Unix) on the net (see Jon Granrose's list to find them). 9. "I'm looking for a dictionary," or, "I'm looking for a thesaurus." There aren't any freely redistributable dictionary or thesaurus databases. If you've already got the database (e.g. on a NeXT machine), you may be able to find sources for code to manipulate it; see (3) above. If you don't, then you probably aren't going to get any useful answers if you ask this question. IV. Things not to do 1. Don't post messages to source newsgroups (e.g. comp.sources.unix, comp.sources.misc, etc.) asking for sources. There are newsgroups specifically for source requests. If you post a request to a moderated source newsgroup, then the moderator has to deal with it (and he probably doesn't want to have to deal with source requests from all over the Usenet), and if you post a request to an unmoderated source newsgroup, then archives of that newsgroup end up with cruft (i.e. your request) in them. V. Searching techniques in detail 1. Usenet source newsgroups There are many Usenet newsgroups in which source code is posted, and most of them are archived. They include: alt.sources comp.sources.3b1 comp.sources.acorn comp.sources.amiga comp.sources.apple2 comp.sources.atari.st comp.sources.games comp.sources.mac comp.sources.misc comp.sources.sun comp.sources.unix comp.sources.x vmsnet.sources vmsnet.sources.games If you're looking for software for a particular machine or operating system, you should check the source archives that are appropriate (e.g. checking "comp.sources.mac" if you're looking for programs to run under SunOS probably wouldn't be very profitable), as well as the general archives such as alt.sources or comp.sources.misc. Sites that archive Usenet source newsgroups usually provide some method of getting an index of the files in each newsgroup's archive. If you are accessing an anonymous ftp archive, then this index will usually appear as a file called "index" or "Index" in the top-level archive of the newsgroup, or in each volume of the newsgroup's archive. If you are accessing a mail archive, then the instructions for using that archive should explain how to get indices of the newsgroups that are archived. If you are accessing an anonymous UUCP archive (see below), you are usually told when you are given the phone number and password for the archive how to get the top-level index for the archive, which will tell you how to get other indices and files. To find anonymous ftp archives of Usenet newsgroups, check Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory (see below). The most well-known Usenet newsgroup archive is probably ftp.uu.net, which archives comp.sources.3b1, comp.sources.amiga, comp.sources.games, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.sun, comp.sources.unix, and comp.sources.x, among other things. Another large Usenet archive site is wuarchive.wustl.edu, which archives alt.sources, comp.sources.mac, and comp.sources.apple2, in addition to most of the newsgroups archived on ftp.uu.net. The vmsnet newsgroups are archived on black.cerritos.edu and acfcluster.nyu.edu. See also the posting "Monthly info posting: vmsnet.sources archive sites" in vmsnet.sources.d and comp.os.vms; if it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. The mail archive server on hrc.UUCP (see below) archives alt.sources, comp.sources.unix, comp.sources.games, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.x, and comp.sources.sun, among other things. 2. The "archie" database "Archie" is a database of anonymous ftp sites and their contents. The software for it was written by the "Archie Group" at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and they maintain the database as well. "Archie" keeps track of the entire contents of a very large number of anonymous ftp sites, and allows you to search for files on those sites using various different kinds of filename searches. Archie also has a software description database (with contents similar to the output of the "whatis" command under Unix), on which you can do keyword searches. If you have Internet access, then you access archie by telnet'ing to the host quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (132.206.2.3 or 132.206.51.1) and logging in as "archie" with no password. Type "help" at that point for more information. If you do not have Internet access, then send a mail message to archie@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca with "help" in the body of the message to find out how to access archie via mail. Note that the mail interface to archie does not currently provide all of the functionality that the interactive interface provides; for example, the software description database is not accessible through the mail interface. 3. Jon Granrose's anonymous ftp directory Jon Granrose maintains an extensive list of anonymous ftp sites and overviews of their contents. The list is posted monthly to comp.misc, comp.sources.wanted and alt.sources.wanted. If it has expired at your site, see the documentation below about retrieving postings from the periodic posting archive. 4. Comp.archives The comp.archives newsgroup, moderated by Ed Vielmetti, contains announcements of archive sites and their contents. If you cannot find what you're looking for in the comp.archives postings available at your site at any given time, then you can read the newsgroup for a while and watch for new postings that are of interest to you, or you can try to find an archive site that archives the postings in comp.archives. One such site is the anonymous ftp archives on wuarchive.wustl.edu. 5. Comp.sources.wanted When you post a message to comp.sources.wanted or alt.sources.wanted, the important thing to remember is to BE SPECIFIC. If you're working under Unix, make sure to mention that; possibly, mention even what type of Unix. If you're not working under Unix, make sure to mention what operating system and machine type you *are* working under. Remember to choose a meaningful Subject line for your message; something like, "Can you help me?" is very unhelpful to people who ARE willing to help, and may just cause some of them to not bother reading your posting. Try to summarize what you're looking for meaningfully in your Subject line. Also, it is usually a good idea to ask for people to send you E-mail rather than posting responses. Say that if enough people write to you and ask for copies of whatever responses you get, then you'll summarize the responses in a later posting to the newsgroup, and if that happens, then DO post the summary. Finally, don't say, "Would someone please mail me <x>?" Say, "Would someone please tell me where I can get <x>, or what's available that does <x>? If you can mail it to me, please let me know, and I'll let you know if I want you to." This avoids the problem of several people mailing you what you requested and overflowing your mailbox. VI. File retrieval techniques in detail 1. Anonymous ftp If you are on a site that is connected to the Internet and allows its users to ftp out to other Internet sites, then you have anonymous ftp access. The usual procedure for using anonymous ftp is to type the command "ftp machine-name", where "machine-name" is the name of the machine to which you want to connect, and then to use "anonymous" as the username and "user@host" (i.e. your E-mail address) as the password when you are prompted for it by ftp. Type "help" inside ftp to get a list of commands, and/or read the man page for ftp, or any other documentation about it available at your site for more information. If they don't answer your question, then ask someone at your site for help. If you don't have Internet and ftp access, then you can use the BITFTP server to retrieve files from anonymous ftp archives. However, you should only use BITFTP when the same files are not available form a dedicated mail archive server. See the BITFTP instructions below. 2. Hrc mail archive As mentioned above, the UUCP host "hrc" maintains an archive of Usenet source newsgroups and other things. To find out how to use it, send mail to "hrc!archives", or "archives@hrc.UUCP", or whatever format your site uses to send mail to the user "archives" on the machine "hrc", and include the following commands in the body of the message: send path <address> send help You should replace <address> with a path from hrc to you. If you know a prominent UUCP site that has you in its path, then your path can start at that site, e.g. "uunet!mit-athena!jik" (PLEASE don't use that address, or I'll get the responses to your requests!). If you're on a site that has a name registered with the Internet name servers, you can use "uunet!athena.mit.edu!jik". 3. Uunet mail archive Uunet.uu.net provides E-mail access to the sources it archived (see the discussion about ftp.uu.net above for some idea of what is available). The address to which to send requests is "netlib@uunet.uu.net". You can send a message containing "help" in its body for more information. 4. BITFTP The BITFTP server, run by Princeton University, allows you to retrieve via E-mail files at anonymous ftp archive sites. To find out how to use it, send mail to "bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu" with "help" in the body. 5. Anonymous UUCP archives There are various UUCP sites on the net that publish their modem telephone numbers and a public username and password that can be used to transfer files from the sites via UUCP. For more information about doing this, see the documentation for the "uucp" command on your system. One place to find information about anonymous UUCP archives is the Nixpub listing of public access Unix sites, maintained by Phil Eschallier and posted in comp.misc and alt.bbs. If that posting has expired at your site, you can get copies of it from the Periodic posting archive described below. 6. Periodic posting archive As mentioned above, The machine pit-manager.mit.edu (18.72.1.58) maintains an archive of periodic Usenet postings. You can access it via anonymous ftp, or via mail server. To find out how to use the mail server, send a message to "mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu" with Subject "help". 7. AT&T's netlib archive AT&T's "netlib" archive is the repository for a large body of source code and other material, much of it mathematical, algorithmic or scientific in nature. The archive is accessible only via electronic mail. To find out how to use it, send mail to "netlib@research.att.com" with "help" in the body of the message. Jonathan Kamens USnail: MIT Project Athena 11 Ashford Terrace jik@Athena.MIT.EDU Allston, MA 02134 Office: 617-253-8085 Home: 617-782-0710