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 multicall binary used to provide a minimal subset of
-POSIX style commands and specialized functions.
+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).
-It is geared toward the very small, i.e. boot floppies, embedded-
-systems, etc. Specifically it is used in the Debian Rescue/Install
-system (which caused the original busybox to be made), the Linux Router
-Project, and others.
+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, BB is modularized to allow an easy build of
-only the BB parts you need, to reduce binary size.
+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.
-Edit the file busybox.def.h and comment out the parts you do not need
-using C++ 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)
-After the build is complete a busybox.links file is generated to allow
-you to easily make the sym/hard links to the busybox binary.
+----------------
+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.
-Note the modular system is Makefile based, and purposely very
-simplistic. It does no dependency checking. That is left for you
-to figure out by trial and error.
+----------------
+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
+ <andersen@lineo.com>
+ <andersee@debian.org>
+
+<blatent plug>
+Many thanks to go to Lineo for paying me to work on busybox.
+</blatent plug>
-Please feed patches back to:
- Erik Andersen <andersee@deban.org>
projects / oweals / busybox.git / blobdiff