
			       asmutils
			       ********

			    (version 0.14)

			http://linuxassembly.org


; BIG FAT WARNING:
;
; THESE UTILITIES WORK WITH KERNEL DIRECTLY (UNLESS "LIBC" VERSION IS USED).
; AUTHORS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THEY CAN DO TO YOUR SYSTEM.
; THOUGH THEY WORKED ON MY BOX, BUT THEY CAN CRASH YOURS.
; NO WARRANTY. THIS IS DEVELOPMENT VERSION, USE SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.


Copyright information
=====================

All programs in this package are COPYRIGHTED by their authors,
as shown in the source code and in CREDITS file.

These programs are free software; you can redistribute them and/or modify
them under the terms of the version 2 of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation.
  
These programs are distributed in the hope that they will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty
of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details
<http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html>.


Description
===========

asmutils is a set of miscellaneous utilities written in assembly language,
targeted on embedded systems and small distributions (like rescue or
installation disks); also it contains small libc and crypto library.
It features the smallest possible size and memory requirements,
the fastest speed and good functionality. Currently project supports
Linux and BSD family (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD), BeOS and AtheOS support
is in the works, and it is possible to port it to any i386 OS. 

Another goal of this package is to provide PORTABLE source code library,
and to encourage assembly programmers to write for Linux/UNIX.
Usually UNIX is associated with C, and no one wants to deal with assembly..
Browse the source, look -- it is simple. Read the docs, start to write,
and you will like it; assembly programming is a lot of fun, especially
when you deal with UNIX-like operating systems.

These utilities also may be useful for system administrators,
there were several reports that they have rescued when libc crashed
(when it was not possible to terminate some program with usual kill).

So, in one word, this package provides:

    - binaries, that
	do not require libc
	are small as scripts
	are fast as kernel
	need only few KBytes of RAM

	Usual way for small system is to replace binaries with shell scripts,
	however scripts require much more memory and are slow.

	Several utilities are fully compliant with usual,
	examine NOTES for details.

    - small libc and crypto library; you can use them
      in both C and assembly projects
    
    - portable & extendable source code library & macros
      for fast and easy assembly development

    - other various hacks, like small graphics intros, etc.


How to install
==============

 REQUIREMENTS:

	1) i386 (however some programs may require higher CPU);
	   some programs may require FPU (or kernel emulation)

	2) ELF/AOUT executable format (actually not a requirement,
	   you just need to write startup stack preparation
	   for your executable format on your own)

 WARNING:
 
 Before using any utility first DO LOOK AT ITS SYNTAX; some utils may work
 not as you expected. Syntax can be obtained from appropriate source from
 src directory (do not expect any answer from program on --help switch).
 
 For details on compilation process examine doc/Asmutils-HOWTO,
 then edit MCONFIG, run 'make' and hopefully all will be done.


Other stuff
===========

 Contributions are welcome! If you wish to contribute
 please read Asmutils-HOWTO in doc directory!

 Do not forget to send feedback & bugreports to project maintainer.

 $Id: README,v 1.11 2001/03/18 07:08:25 konst Exp $
