Please see the LICENSE file for copyright information.
+
+BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single
+small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most of the utilities
+you usually find in fileutils, shellutils, findutils, textutils, grep, gzip,
+tar, etc. BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or
+emdedded system. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options then
+their full featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide
+the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU counterparts.
-BusyBox is a suite of "tiny" Unix utilities in a multi-call binary. It
-provides a pretty complete POSIX environment in a very small package.
-Just add a kernel, "ash" (Keith Almquists tiny Bourne shell clone), and
-an editor such as "elvis-tiny" or "ae", and you have a working system.
-Busybox was begun to support the Debian Rescue/Install disks, but it
-also makes an excellent environment for any small or embedded system.
-
-As of version 0.20 there is a version number. : ) Also as of version
-0.20, BB is now modularized to easily allow you to build of only the
-BB parts you need, thereby reducing binary size. To turn off unwanted
-Busybox components, simply edit the file busybox.def.h and comment out
-the parts you do not need using C++ style (//) comments.
-
-After the build is complete a busybox.links file is generated which is
-then used by 'make install' to create symlinks to the busybox binary
-for all compiled in functions. By default, 'make install' will place
-the symlink forest into `pwd`/_install unless you have defined the
-PREFIX environment variable.
+BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind.
+It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or exclude commands (or
+features) at compile time. This makes it easy to customize your embedded
+systems. To create a working system, just add a kernel, a shell (such as ash),
+and an editor (such as elvis-tiny or ae).
+
+Busybox was originally written to support the Debian Rescue/Install disks, but
+it also makes an excellent environment for any small or embedded system.
+
+As of version 0.20 there is a version number. : ) Also as of version 0.20,
+BusyBox is now modularized to easily allow you to build only the components you
+need, thereby reducing binary size. To turn off unwanted Busybox components,
+simply edit the file busybox.def.h and comment out the components you do not
+need using C++ style (//) comments.
+
+After the build is complete a busybox.links file is generated which is then
+used by 'make install' to create symlinks to the busybox binary for all
+compiled in functions. By default, 'make install' will place the symlink
+forest into `pwd`/_install unless you have defined the PREFIX environment
+variable (i.e. make PREFIX="/tmp/foo" install)
+
+----------------
+Getting help:
+When you find you need help, you can check out the BusyBox mailing list
+archives at http://opensource.lineo.com/lists/busybox/ or even join
+the mailing list if you are interested.
+
+----------------
+Bugs:
+If you find bugs, follow the instructions at http://bugs.lineo.com/Reporting.html
+and submit a bug report. This way, we can be sure nothing falls through the
+cracks...
+
+----------------
+FTP:
+Source for the latest released version can always be downloaded from
+ ftp://ftp.lineo.com/pub/busybox.
+
+----------------
+CVS:
+BusyBox now has its own publically browsable CVS tree at:
+ http://opensource.lineo.com/cgi-bin/cvsweb/busybox/
+
+Anonymous CVS access is available. For instructions, check out:
+ http://opensource.lineo.com/cvs_anon.html
+
+For those that are actively contributing there is even CVS write access:
+ http://opensource.lineo.com/cvs_write.html
+
+
+----------------
Please feed suggestions, bug reports, insults, and bribes back to:
Erik Andersen
projects / oweals / busybox.git / blobdiff