Introduction ------------ Welcome to the Walnut Creek CDROM Aminet CDROM, February 1994 edition. This disc contains most of the Aminet Internet archive, and consists of 3900 applications, utilities, games, graphics, and other files for the Commodore Amiga series computer. What is Aminet? --------------- Aminet is a library where software authors can place their freely distributable programs for others to download. The backbone of Aminet consists of about 15 computers all over the world that are linked to Internet, a computer network that connects most universities and many businesses in the world. Aminet is moderated. Whatever gets uploaded has to be approved before it is made available to the public. However there is no censorship; the only conditions for inclusion in the library are that every file uploaded has a description file in the correct format, and the archive itself is okay and virus free. What is unique about Aminet is that large amounts of data are made available to a wide audience within a very short time. If a programmer uploads his latest release to Aminet, he can expect that it will have been downloaded and tested by one thousand people within a week. If he finds a bug in his program, he can distribute an update to the whole world within twenty four hours. In that respect, freely distributable software is even better than commercial software. What's on this CD? ------------------ This CDROM contains business and database applications, developer's tools and source code, hardware information, games of all kinds, utilities for managing disks, souping up the Workbench, archiving and dearchiving files, and many more, text editors, graphics viewers, editors, and pictures, music editors and players, and much much more. Because of the immense size of Aminet (at press time it had grown to over one Gigabyte of compressed files!) some files had to be omitted, consisting mostly of Soundtracker music modules and eurodemos, but we believe you will enjoy the selection of software on this disc. How do I use the files on this CD? ---------------------------------- To aid your search for interesting files, we have included comprehensive file lists in the form of INDEX files in most directories. Every INDEX file contains a list of all files in that directory and the directories below it, and the one at the very top of the directory tree contains a list of all files on the CD. You can browse through the INDEX files from the CLI or the AmigaShell by using a text editor or the c:search program for a keyword you expect in the file name or the description of the file you're looking for (e.g. "search INDEX "). Alternatively, we've included a little program called "Findfile" that will do the same thing for you. To use it, open a CLI or AmigaShell and type "findfile ", where is the string you'd like to search for. If you have Kickstart 2.0 or higher, you can view the INDEX files from Workbench by double-clicking on the icons, and you can run Findfile from the Workbench. TO ACCESS MOST OF THE FILES ON THE DISC, YOU WILL HAVE TO USE THE CLI OR AMIGASHELL. PLEASE read the manual that came with your Amiga to learn more about the CLI or the AmigaShell, and read the documentation for the access programs in the :tools directory (more about this directory later). A wider version of the main index can be found in the directory info/index/. It includes information about the age of the file at press time as well as longer descriptions. What file formats are used? --------------------------- There are several types of files on Aminet. Most of them are archive files, which means that they are compressed and contain several files in one compact group. Here's a list of the more common archive files you'll find on this disc: Filename Suffix Type Program needed to access .lha Archived lha .lzh Archived lha .zoo Archived zoo .dms Diskette dms .Z Compressed uncompress .jpg Image viewtek .gif Image viewtek .iff Image viewtek .txt Text muchmore .run Executable ready to run .exe Executable ready to run Some of these programs are found uncompressed in the directory :tools, and the rest can be found elsewhere on the disc, in archived form. It is recommended that you copy them somewhere in your executable path, e.g. into the Tools or C: directory of your Workbench. Please read the documentation for the programs in the :tools directory (they are also found in that directory); complete distributions can be found in the appropriate directories of the cdrom (usually Aminet/util/pack). Who runs Aminet? ---------------- Aminet is run by volunteers who do the daily administration. If you'd like to learn more about the history of Aminet, have a look at the file info/sites/aminet_history.txt and maybe check pix/irc which features some of the people associated with Aminet. Where do I access Aminet? ------------------------- If you would like to get updated more often than is possible with a quarterly CDROM, you have several possibilities. By far the best way is getting yourself connected to the Internet. Several commercial networks allow access to the Internet, e.g. BIX and Compuserve in the USA. Some specialized companies (this is not a recommendation, just an information): USA Portal Voice 1.408.973.9111 Modem 1.408.973.8091, cs@cup.portal.com Netcom Voice 1.408.554.UNIX info@netcom.com GERMANY EUnet Voice +49.231.972.00 Fax +49.231.972.1111 SWITZERLAND EUnet Voice +41.1.291.45.80 Fax +41.1.291.46.42 Once you have gotten Internet access you can use the following methods to access the latest Aminet files: - FTP. The program 'ftp' comes with UNIX and lets you connect to remote machines to retrieve files. Log in as user 'ftp' and enter your login name has password. All of the below sites have the most recent Aminet files while most delete older files. ftp.wustl.edu is the main site. USA (MO) ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 pub/aminet/ USA (CA) ftp.cdrom.com 192.153.46.2 pub/aminet/ USA (TX) ftp.etsu.edu 192.43.199.20 pub/aminet/ Scandinavia ftp.luth.se 130.240.18.2 pub/aminet/ Germany ftp.uni-kl.de 131.246.9.95 pub/aminet/ Germany ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.1.43 pub/aminet/ Germany ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de 130.149.17.7 pub/aminet/ Germany ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.2.32 pub/aminet/ Germany ftp.uni-oldenburg.de 134.106.40.9 pub/aminet/ Switzerland ftp.eunet.ch 146.228.10.16 pub/aminet/ Switzerland litamiga.epfl.ch 128.178.151.32 pub/aminet/ UK ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.2.1 pub/aminet/ Australia splat.aarnet.edu.au 192.107.107.6 pub/aminet/ - FSP. Aminet Files can be downloaded from the FSP site ftp.luth.se at port 6969 and from disun3.epfl.ch port 9999. ftp.wustl.edu and ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk have FSP on port 21, but can't be reached from everywhere (just try). Uploads are accepted at wustl and luth. - Telnet. ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk strikes again. You can telnet to 146.169.2.1 and log in as 'sources', which gives you a UNIX account where you can download the files on ftp using commands like 'sz' and 'kermit', or just browse around. - NFS. The only Aminet site that allows NFS mounting of the archives is ftp.wustl.edu. FTP there and read the details in /README.NFS - IRC. On Internet Relay Chat, you can talk to various server robots like Mama, LitBot and MerBot, to do queries and retrievals. Find out more about them using '/msg mama help', for example. - Gopher. There is a gopher server for Aminet at gopher.wustl.edu, merlin.etsu.edu and at ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk. To connect, use the command 'gopher '. People with Internet mail capability but not full Internet access can access Aminet in the following ways: - Mailserver. The Aminet site ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk has an email server that sends out uuencoded binaries. Send a message with HELP in the body to ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk. You can also use ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com to retrieve files from any Aminet site, but please use an American one to save bandwidth. Send HELP there for information, too. - Mailing lists. If you want to get the list of new uploads mailed every week, send a mail with 'SUBSCRIBE aminet-weekly foo@bar.edu' in the body to listserv@wunet.wustl.edu or if you want daily updates, just use 'SUBSCRIBE aminet-daily' instead. Replace foo@bar.edu with your email address, of course. Keep the welcome mail in case you forget how to unsubscribe, and make sure that your email address stays valid while you're subscribed. - Usenet. A list of recent uploads is posted every week to the newsgroups comp.sys.amiga.misc and de.comp.sys.amiga.archive. - Modem. The following BBSes carry up-to-date Aminet files: GERMANY Incubus (+49)931 781464 GERMANY LSD (+49)9133 9591 You can usually log in as user 'ftp' with password 'ftp' if you don't want an account there. I know there are more BBSes around but they have not been reported to me. - Aminet-on-disk. You can order single Aminet files (3 DM per disk) or per-directory subscriptions (2 DM per disk) from Martin Schulze S.A.U.G. e.V. Parkstr. 14 66806 Ensdorf Tel: 06831 506171 masc@coli.uni-sb.de Send 3 DM in stamps to get an index disk with instructions. - EZINFO. This is an internet BBS in Switzerland. Here you can download by Kermit or ZMODEM, but you need to be verified to become user. Modem dial 01 256 20 02, then type 'call b050' to connect to EZINFO. Internetters may connect using telnet ezinfo.ethz.ch - If you want to upload, please read info/sites/aminet_uploads.txt and send your submission to any of named Aminet locations. If you want to submit by diskette, send to Martin Schulze (see above) if you're in Europe or, if you're in the US, Chris Mattingly, 414-C Wood Hall, PO Box 21553, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27607. Note that your disk will not normally be sent back. Be sure to write a .readme file for each submission. Are the contents virus safe? ---------------------------- All files on Aminet have been virus checked. However, new viruses that were unknown at the time the CD was made could still have slipped through. Thus you should run a virus checker on all programs extracted from the CD to be 100% safe. Disclaimer ---------- This CDROM comes with a full money back guarantee. If you are dissatisfied for any reason, you can return it for a full refund. Walnut Creek CDROM make no warranty about any program on this CDROM, including any written by Walnut Creek. You, not Walnut Creek CDROM, assume all risk of using any program on this CDROM. We reserve the right to limit any effort on our part to rectify problems with any software on this CDROM. ASP --- Walnut Creek CDROM is an approved vendor and associate member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. How can I get a free CD? ----------------------- If you are the author of one of the programs that is on the CD, you are entitled to one free copy of the CDROM. Please tell Walnut Creek the full path of the file you wrote, which CD it is on and which CD you'd like. It will be shipped to you free of charge anywhere in the world, but only one CD per person. You can contact Walnut Creek the following ways: Walnut Creek CDROM Suite 260 1547 Palos Verdes Mall Walnut Creek CA 94596 USA Phone 1 800 786 9907 Phone +1 510 674 0783 FAX +1 510 674 0821 Email orders@cdrom.com