dist(7)
NAME
dist - introduction to dist
DESCRIPTION
The dist package is a set of tools meant to ease the construction and maintenance of portable software. There are four distinct parts in dist, and it is also meant to be used with two external products, which are publicly available: mailagent and patch. The first component is the Configure script generator, which is a portability tool. It is automatically build up by metaconfig from your sources and a set of units. Ideally, the end-user receiving your source code will simply have to read your README file, run the Configure script (which is self-documented), and then run make. Your package should then build cleanly on every UNIX platform. The second component is the Makefile.SH generator, which is a generic configured Makefile, reusing some of the information figured out by Configure. Although you may write your own Makefile and then use makeSH to transform it into a Makefile.SH, it is better to write a generic Jmakefile description, which does not rely on a particular position within the source tree, and then use jmake to recursively build your Makefiles. The third component is the package generator, which is used when it's time to build up the shell archives used to distribute your program. Although you may use your own archiving mechanism, the one included here knows about RCS files and will properly check out the lattest revisions, leaving your working files alone. The makedist program will also perform Copyright expansion, an useful feature when you share source files among more than one program, placed under distinct Copyright information. The fourth and latest component is the patch generator, used to make updates of your sources, which can later be applied on the original distribution by using the patch program. Before using any of the dist programs, you should probably identify your package by running the packinit program, which will create a .package file in the top-level directory of your package.
COMMANDS
The dist package implements the following commands (those tagged as library commands are to be found in the dist library and should not be made publicly available in everyone's path): bindex builds the Index file (library). jmake a Makefile.SH generator. jmkmf bootstraps top-level Makefile.SH file. kitpost posts distribution kits made by makedist. kitsend sends distribution kits made by makedist. makeSH wraps existing scripts into a .SH file. makedist builds up distribution kits. makegloss builds the Glossary file (library). manicheck checks MANIFEST.new accuracy manifake makes MANIFEST.new out of an existing MANIFEST. manilist builds MANIFEST.new reports. metaconfig a Configure script generator. metalint a metaconfig unit consistency checker. metaxref a metaconfig cross-reference builder. packinit initializes a package (creates a .package file). pat main patch generator. patbase resets patch base to current version. patcil checks new version in. patclean remove working version of up-to-date files. patcol checks file out. patdiff builds (contextual) diffs for the patch. patftp copies patches to public ftp directory. patindex builds a patch index. patlog handles ChangeLog file updates. patmake puts diffs together into a patch. patnotify notifies users that new patches have been released. patpost posts patch to some newsgroup. patsend mails patch to some people. patsnap builds a release snapshot with files and RCS revisions.
PROFILE
Commands having a set of meaningful options (other than -h or -V) can
also take arguments from the ~/.dist_profile file, or whatever file the
DIST environment variable points to. Each line of the file is in the
format:
profile-component: value
whith shell-style comments (#) allowed provided they start the line.
Each command looks for a profile component entry matching its name and
loads the value as if it were arguments specified on the command line.
Those arguments precede any other argument specified manually, in case
order is meaningful.
Some commands may also be configured from within the profile, by
setting a specific variable attached to the command by a profile entry
looking like this:
cmdname-variable: value
For instance, assuming the variable c-files is recognized by the
metaconfig program, its default value could be overwritten by this
profile entry:
metaconfig-c-files: suitable value
Only the first '-' after the command name is part of the syntax, the
other one used in the variable name is pure convention. Please refer to
the manual page of each command for a list of valid profile variables
which may be set.
FILES
.MT Temporary directory created by metaconfig and friends.
.newer A list of files newer than patchlevel.h, used by the
patching tools.
.package Main configuration file used by most of the dist tools
to make them smart.
ChangeLog The file where changes are recorded. Its name may be
configured by running packinit, but this is the default
"generic" name under which it is referred to within the
documentation.
Configure The generated configuration script.
Glossary A list of all the known portability symbols known by
metaconfig. This file is located in the dist library
directory.
I.fui Cross-reference file generated by metaxref, sorted by
file, unit, item.
I.uif Cross-reference file generated by metaxref, sorted by
unit, item, file.
Index A list of all the rules known by jmake. This file is
located in the dist library directory.
Jmakefile Generic makefile description used by jmake.
MANIFEST List of all the files to be included in the
distribution. Usually a copy (not a link) of
MANIFEST.new.
MANIFEST.new List of all the files to be taken into account by the
dist tools.
Makefile.SH The generated configured makefile (via Jmakefile) or
hand-generated Makefile making use of known metaconfig
symbols.
Obsolete A list of obsolete symbol used and their new
equivalents.
RCS Directory where RCS files are stored.
README Main file explaining how to build your package.
U Private unit directory.
Wanted File used by metaconfig, listing all the symbols used by
the sources.
bugs Directory where patches are stored.
check.extra Extra files present in MANIFEST.new, generated by
manicheck.
check.want Missing files from MANIFEST.new, generated by manicheck.
config_h.SH Generated config.h template.
confmagic.h Magic symbol remapping, activated via metaconfig's -M
option.
hints This directory lists all the configuration hints for
your package.
patchlevel.h File recording your package patch level, should not be
part of MANIFEST.new, but may be listed in MANIFEST, at
your discretion.
users File recording the users of your package, generated by
mailagent's package command (see the MailAuthor.U unit
and mailagent 3.0).
ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variable is paid attention to:
DIST Location of the dist profile, defaults to
~/.dist_profile. This variable is subject to ~name
substitution, even if your shell does not support it.
AUTHORS
By chronological order: Larry Wall <[email protected]> (dist 2.0 in 1988) Harlan Stenn <[email protected]> (worked on dist 3.0 1990-1992) Raphael Manfredi <[email protected]> (dist 3.0 and integration 1991-1995) Please look at the Credits file in the distribution source tree for a list of all the known contributors.
SEE ALSO
jmake(1), metaconfig(1), pat(1). ram DIST(7)
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
