freebsd-ports/net/rdist6/pkg-descr

			 Rdist Version 6.1.2
			  February 15, 1996

			    Michael Cooper
		    University Computing Services
		  University of Southern California
			   mcooper@usc.edu

			 GENERAL INFORMATION

This is version 6.1 of Rdist from USC.  It is based on rdist from
4.3BSD (classic).  It includes all fixes for all bugs known to the
CSRG Berkeley folks.  It has been running at USC and numerous other
sites for some time now on a wide variety of platforms.

This version of rdist is not directly compatible with rdist
distributed with 4.3BSD and subsequent vendor releases, but does
indirectly provide full backward compatibility.

The current official version of rdist is available via anonymous ftp
on usc.edu under /pub/rdist.  The current version is always
retrievable as file "/pub/rdist/rdist.tar.gz".

			   CHANGES/FEATURES

This version of rdist does not need to be setuid "root" at all.  Rdist
now uses the rsh(1c) [remote command] program to make connections to
remote hosts, instead of making the connection directly.  This
eliminates the need to be run as "root".  Many thanks to Chris
Siebenmann <cks@utcc.utoronto.ca> and John DiMarco
<jdd@cdf.toronto.edu> who came up with an rsh version of rcmd() that
makes this possible.

This version supports automatic system determination and configuration
for pre-ported platforms.  This means that rdist knows how to
completely configure and compile itself for a number of platforms.
Users don't need to worry about modifying any files to compile on a
supported platform.

See the ChangeLog file for the real details.  The end of that file
contains the major new features compared to rdist classic.

A paper titled "Overhauling Rdist for the '90s" from USENIX LISA VI
is available for anonymous ftp on usc.edu as "/pub/rdist/overhaul.ps.gz".

			      PLATFORMS

This version of rdist has been ported to most major, and a number of
not so major, platforms.  The complete list of supported platforms can
be found by looking at all the config/os-*.h files.


			    COMPATIBILITY

This version of rdist differs greatly from older versions (as
distributed with 4.3BSD) in that the client and the server portions
are seperated into two distinct programs, rdist and rdistd,
respectively.  The protocol used to communicate between the client and
server has also been extensively modified.  These two items make
providing "builtin" compatibility very difficult.  However, backwards
compatibility is possible, provided you have a binary or source copy
of the old rdist.

The way the old rdist started a server rdist is to run "rdist
-Server".  If the new rdist is run with the "-Server" option, then it
will exec a copy of the old rdist (usually /usr/old/rdist or
/usr/ucb/oldrdist).  In this way, you get compatibility with hosts
running the old rdist attempting to rdist to a machine running new
rdist.  If your host running new rdist wants to rdist to a host
running the old rdist, then it must run the old rdist program
(/usr/old/rdist or /usr/ucb/oldrdist).

[[ for FreeBSD; /usr/bin/rdist is the "old" rdist, and /usr/local/bin/
[[ is the location of the "new" rdist6 and rdistd.
 
The definition _PATH_OLDRDIST in "config/config.h" controls the
location of the old rdist.  If this is not defined, or the defined
program does not exist at runtime, then rdist will print an error when
run with the "-Server" option.

			     BUG REPORTS

Bug reports should be sent to "rdist-bugs@usc.edu".  All bug reports
should include:

1) The version of the rdist client and server you are running 
   (use the -V option to rdist and rdistd)
2) The platform (machine + OS name + OS version)
3) A full description of the problem, including sample distfiles.
4) If you have a patch to fix the problem, a context diff (diff -c)
   of the original files vs. the fixed files

			   RDIST MAIL LISTS

There are two rdist mailling lists described below.  PLEASE DO NOT SEND
GENERAL QUESTIONS TO ANY OF THESE LISTS.

LIST NAME	SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS	DESCRIPTION
---------------	-----------------------	------------------------------------
rdist-announce	rdist-announce-request	Announcements about new versions 
					of Rdist.

rdist-dev	rdist-dev-request	Rdist developers mailling list.  
					Discussion about rdist features, 
					suggestions, bugs, etc.  Will also 
					receive all rdist-announce mail.
					Only those who are _SERIOUS_ about
					being an rdist developer should be
					on this list.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email to the appropriate
SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS from above "@usc.edu".  i.e.
"rdist-dev-request@usc.edu" for the "rdist-dev" list.

Archives are available for anonymous ftp from usc.edu as

	/pub/rdist/<LIST>.archive