Fish 'n' More 1/FishNMoreVol1.bin/information

Text File | 1990-09-24 | 13KB | 398 lines

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                   tm
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Fish & More
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Volume I
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INTRODUCTION
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Welcome to Xetec's Fish & More.  A CD-ROM full of software for Amiga computers.
CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory.  The CD-ROM and it's cousin,
the audio Compact Disc both use optical technology to permanently record data
(either software or music) on a plastic disc (that's right, DISCS are plastic
while DISKS are magnetic--confusing, isn't it).  Data is packed on a CD-ROM
(and CD's as well) at a mind-boggling density.  The molded CD-ROM discs,
although they are quite rugged, should be handled with care.  While you can
abuse audio CD's and they'll still usually play, CD-ROM's require a higher
level of data integrity.  So treat me nicely, or parts of me will quit loading!

This volume of Fish & More contains more than 450 Megabytes of data!  That's
about 520 floppy disks worth of information.



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ORGANIZATION
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The programs and data included on Vol. I of the Fish & More CD-ROM have been
painstakingly sorted into logical drawers (sub-directories) so that finding
a program of interest can be intuitive, rather than laborious.  For example,
all sound-related files appear in the "Audio" drawer, and within it there
are separate drawers for sound samples, musical scores, sound utilities, etc.

In some places this nesting of sub-drawers goes as deep as 8!  Don't worry
though, it's not hard to find what you want, even at those depths.

A majority of the files on the CD-ROM came from the AmigaLibDisk collection
(put out by Fred Fish).  The rest came from bulletin boards and other
disk distributors.  Fred Fish disks are organized in a fairly consistent way,
but sometimes other distributable software is not.  For that reason, the two
groups--"Fish" and "More"--are separated on the disc.  When you first open
the CD-ROM disk icon, you will notice among other miscellaneous icons a big
fish and a big plus sign; these are the "fish" and "more" directories, repect-
ively.  They are the gateways to all the stuff on the disc.

This CD-ROM, when used from Workbench, contains drawer icons of two colors:
blue and brown.  The brown ones are "bottom" drawers, the ones that contain an
actual program, its icons, documentation, data files, etc.  The blue drawers
only contain other drawers.  This helps when you're navigating around on the
CD-ROM.  Just remember, whenever you see a blue drawer, there are more sub-
drawers inside waiting to be explored!  (Note: the colors "blue" and "brown"
assume that your preferences are set to standard Workbench colors for OS 1.3.)

The bottom (brown) drawers, whenever possible, are given the name of the
program as it was released.  Programs on Fish disks that are updates of older
releases are handled a bit differently.  All versions of the program appear,
each with its own drawer.  The names of each of these programs is modified to
reflect the disk number on which it was released.  For example, if a program
called Gruntbuggly is later updated on disk #420 and then again on disk 522,
the drawers might be named something like:

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GruntBuggly_046    GruntBuggly_420    GruntBuggly_522
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Sometimes programs with similar functions have been written by separate authors
but given the same name.  In these cases, the earliest program is unchanged and
subsequent programs are given Roman numerals to distinguish them.  For example,
three people might have written a program they generically call "Show."  They
would appear on the Fish & More CD-ROM like this:

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Show        ShowII       ShowIII
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To complicate matters, one of these might also have an update released, which
would look like this:

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Show      ShowII_075      ShowII_145      ShowIII
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USAGE
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The programs included, especially those from the Fred Fish library, are
primarily written to be accessed from a CLI.  Some do provide Workbench use,
however, at least in a limited way.  Usually at least a text icon is present
so you can read about the program without delving into CLI.

Some programs have no Workbench icon and no documentation outside of the
program itself.  In these rare instances, their bottom drawer contains an
message that instructs you that you must use this program from CLI.  If a
text file is readable from Workbench, but the program can only be used
from CLI, no such message is given (hopefully the text file will instruct
you how to use the program).

Keep in mind when using the CD-ROM that nothing can be modified (the data
is PERMANENT).  This means that drawers cannot be renamed, windows cannot
be permanently moved or resized, etc.  Also, if a program needs to write
config files or other data, they must be routed to a magnetic disk somewhere,
or the program will not run from CD-ROM.  If that's the case, just copy the
program and its associated files to a disk and use it there.



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MODIFICATIONS
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While organizing the voluminous information contained on this disc, I found
it necessary to modify slightly the location and content of some files, even
those from the Fred Fish library.  Here's a run-down of what has been changed:

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1) All compressed files (.zoo, .arc, .lzh, etc) have been decompressed for
   you so that it might be possible to use the program/data directly off the
   CD-ROM without copying it to magnetic storage.  The archive file has been
   included as well, for completeness and for ease of distribution.

2) A few programs had to have their sub-directory structure rearranged because
   of depth limitations (a CD-ROM can only legally go 8 drawers/sub-directories
   deep).  For these programs, a special readme file was included to alert
   you and to show you how to restore it to its release configuration, should
   that be important.

3) Many of the icon-driven functions called "C" commands in a variety of ways,
   Including  C:  :  :c/  sys:c/  sys:utilities/  etc.  To make all of these
   work on any system, as well as just for general cleanliness, all these
   commands appear at the root of the CD-ROM in a directory called "C".  Many,
   icons therefore, especially text (readme) icons, have had the path of their
   default tool changed to read  :c/Program
   As long as the program is used from the CD-ROM, the proper commands will
   be found.  When copying programs to magnetic media, you may have to change
   the icons' paths to suit the rest of your system.  For information
   concerning icons and modifying them, consult your user manual or other
   suitable documentation.

   Some icons access programs which we could not legally distribute.  In these
   cases, the icons usually try to access the program through an assigned
   directory.  For example, Deluxepaint is called by "DPaint:Dpaint" and
   Basic programs use "Extras:AmigaBasic".  Using simple assigns from CLI
   you can direct these to the actual location within your system:

      ASSIGN DPaint: dh0:Utilities/DeluxePaintIII
      ASSIGN Extras: sys:languages

   For more information on using assigns, consult documentation on the CLI.

   A few programs access standard Workbench commands (such as iconx).  I have
   left their paths unchanged as "C:program".  If you don't have all Workbench
   Files installed in your SYS:C directory, this type of icon might not work.

4) Some programs included documentation of some sort but included no icon for
   reading it from Workbench.  For these programs, icons have been added.

5) Most data files (sounds, pictures, etc) have icons attached so they may
   be at least sampled from Workbench.
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DISTRIBUTION
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Although we frequently refer to this CD-ROM as a public domain library
for the Amiga, the programs and data on it actually vary widely in their
legal status.  Authors usually document how the information can and cannot
be distributed.  Most fall into one of the following catagories:

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 Public Domain
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   The author or authors have relinquished all rights to you, the end user.
   You may freely use the programs and data and/or distribute them in any way
   you wish.  You may modify the source code (if provided) or incorporate it
   into another program.

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 ShareWare
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   The author usually holds a copyright on the program, but has allowed
   some degree of free distribution in hopes that the target audience will
   get their hands on it and pay a suggested fee to the author if it proves
   useful.  Some authors provide extended documentation, support, or updates
   to registered users (ones who've paid).  Usually you cannot charge any
   money for shareware except to cover your media costs.

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 Limited Use
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   Software in this catagory can usually be distributed freely and used
   without paying shareware fees.  The author, however, usually holds the
   copyright and thereby can impose any limitations on its use, distribution,
   use of the source code, and generation of modified versions.  Some authors
   release their programs this way to ensure they get a little credit.  That's
   not asking too much.

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 OtherWare
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   Of course there are some pieces that don't fit well into any of the above
   classifications.  Be especially careful not to violate their distribution
   rules.
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Since the software on the CD-ROM falls into each of the listed catagories,
be sure you read the documention and know WHAT you can do with the program
BEFORE you use the code or give away a copy.

If you know for a fact that some information on the Fish & More disc is
not distributable in such a manner, please inform us and we will make sure
to omit it from future releases.  We have attempted to acquire the
information only from reliable sources.  Unfortunately, however, there
are those individuals who love to strip out copyright information or
tamper with documentation files.  If you are a programmer and see your
handiwork included here against your wishes, we solemnly apologize.  Once
again, be sure to keep us informed.

If you have a program or data that you wish to be considered for distribution
on future releases of this disc, submit them to:

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Xetec, Inc.
2804 Arnold Rd.
Salina, KS 67401

Attn: CD compilation
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If the data is soon to appear on a Fred Fish disk, save your trouble, we
receive them automatically.  Some programs, however, (like a 10 Meg digitized
song--grin), are just too unreasonable to be distributed by Fred.  CD-ROM is
perfect for such monsters.

Submit all data on floppies.  Use an archiver like QuarterBack or X-chive
to split large files onto multiple disks.  Xetec cannot return the floppies
unless special arrangements have been made.



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DISCLAIMER
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No warranty is expressed or implied as to the contents of this disk.  All data
is presented "as is."  Xetec and its employees assume no responsibility for
the misapplication or failure of any of the included programs.  So there.

Refer questions, bug reports, praise, complaints, money, etc. to the respective
author(s) of each program.  Also, refer servicing to qualified service
personnel, don't take any wooden nickels, no user-serviceable parts inside,
and to avoid the risk of electric shock, remove power before bathing with any
kitchen appliances.



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KUDOS
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So much thanks has to be given to all of the authors who have labored long
into the night to support the Amiga, usually for nothing in return but a
bit of recognition.  Your unending support has been instrumental in bringing
the Amiga to where it is today.  I appreciate you making a mass-distribution
like this CD-ROM possible.

Thanks also must go to Fred Fish for having the insight to see the need to
distribute everything with a controlled rapidity.  I think I'm qualified
now to appreciate the amount of time you have invested in organizing all
that data into a library of disks.  And I was paid for my grueling hours!

Also, thanks to Traci for putting up with my absence during this project.

Enjoy...
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