asNews v0.6.0 Copyright (c) 1998-1999 Maurice Fernandez

    I.  Install
   II.  Usage
  III.  Known Bugs
   IV.  More info, feedback, contributions 	

NOTE: more info available in texinfo format. 
If you have installed asNews, you can browse it with `info asNews'.


I. Install
 The easy way... this software uses GNU autoconf and GNU automake, which
help insuring portability on a wide range of UN*X systems. So portability
should be no problem, but anyway a C++ compiler is currently needed.
To compile and install, simply type:
	./configure
	make

	make install   ---> may need to become root to install in /usr/bin 
				or /usr/local/bin
     or make install prefix=/path/to/install/in

II. Usage

asnews (the package) now has two executables: 'asNews' is command-line
oriented, and it takes care of retrieving and organizing news.
'gasNews' has a *real* GUI, ie you can select which news to download an
read them in a confortable environment.

Here follows more info on how to use asNews to create menu entries in your 
desktop:

asNews is command-line driven, what it does is creating special
files in the output directory you specify, which when read by afterstep will
be put in your start-menu. You may need to tell afterstep to reload its
configuration. Typical usage with afterstep is as follows:
	1. find where your afterstep menu entries are... usually
	   somewhere near ~/GNUStep. On my system the path is 
		~/GNUstep/Library/AfterStep/start . 
	   We'll call this path OUTDIR. You may create subdirectories under
	   OUTDIR:
		cd OUTDIR
		mkdir Freshmeat
		mkdir Slashdot .... etc...
	2. Run asNews using as output path OUTDIR, 
		asNews -p proxy_host:proxy_port -m freshmeat -o OUTDIR/Freshmeat	
	     or asNews -n -m freshmeat -o OUTDIR/Freshmeat
	     if you have no need to use a proxy.
	3. If you have a recent version of afterstep the menu will get
	   updated automatically, otherwise you must do it; the procedure is
	   system-dependent.

To use it with kde, find what directory your "desktop" is on and run asNews
with the -t kde option, using that dir as the output path. (Sorry, I can't
be more explicit, I don't have KDE for the moment).

Here's a brief abstract of all the options:

Usage: asNews [OPTIONS] [OUTPUT PATH]
  Options: 
    -B --bugs           retrieve info about bugs in this version
    -c --copyright	display copyright information
    -D --daemon[=FILE]  enter daemon mode
    -d --dump           dump the news
    -h --help		display this help
    -i --input=FILE	use file FILE instead of connecting to the news server
    -m --mode=MODE	which news to download. MODE may be freshmeat,
			linuxtoday, segfault, slashdot, kdenews, linuxapps
			bbc, ceo, 7am, geeknews, linuxdev, icewalkers, appwatch
			hotwired, mozilla 
    -n --network	connect to the server instead of reading from a file
    -p --proxy=PROXY:PORT	use proxy PROXY, connecting to port PORT
    -o --output=PATH	create output files in PATH
    -R --release        retrieve info about last release of asNews
    -t --type=TYPE	create output files for TYPE. 
			 TYPE may be kde or afterstep
    -v --verbose	give more info and warnings (extra verbose: -vv)
    -V --version        give version info


  Examples:
    asNews -p localhost:8080 -m slashdot /tmp/tst.slashdot
    asNews -n -m segfault ~/GNUStep/AfterStep/Library/start/Segfault/
    asNews -B -n 
    asNews -n --dump
    asNews -D

  Default options are:
    --mode=freshmeat
    --type=afterstep
    	get news from a file (filename must be specified)
	OR get them using a proxy if $http_proxy (env. var) is defined.

III. Known bugs
There are always bugs. 
The only known bug will probably make asNews segfault if a server 
feeds it with more than 32Kb of data. (This isn't happening 
anytime soon, fortunately. :)
To see if more bugs have been found in the version you're using, type
	asNews -B -n
or 
	asNews -B -phost:port 
You can also use the -R option to get info about the latest releases:
	asNews -R -n 


IV. Info, feedback, contributions
More info is available at 
	http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/2075/new/asNews.html
(sorry for the URL :-)

You can mail bug reports, suggestions, etc, to   batsman @ geocities.com .
Contributions are always welcome!

