TUNES Project blurb -- README,v 1.5 1999/11/18 17:33:18 fare Exp

			Welcome to the TUNES Project.
				------------

+++ What is TUNES ? +++

TUNES is a project for a *computing system* based on *computing freedom*.
Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Francois-Rene Rideau
				    and TUNES Project Members.

   It is an ambitious project to reform the way people use computers, and
computer industry is organized, by providing fine-grained competition
between software packages, and abolishing all arbitrary limits to computing.

   You may read the Tunes documentation at http://www.tunes.org/
and in particular our FAQ at http://www.tunes.org/Tunes-FAQ.html


+++ Copyright & Distribution policy +++

   The TUNES Project is committed in providing free software,
and distributes its software under
the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later,
as found in file COPYING in the current directory.
Please read it carefully to know your rights.
   Basically, it means anyone can freely use and distribute the software,
but cannot deprive other people from this right,
or silently modify the software to cheat people.
   Note that even though this license does not force you
to pay us the least penny, we sure welcome any donation!
What we lack most currently is worktime:
we have little time to develop,
and few people spend time to work on the project,
so the bestest donation consists in working on the project,
or allowing us to work on it
(for instance, by finding me a job where I could work
as a full-time TUNES developer).

Note:
   That our system is under the GNU LGPL does not mean that
all software running on top of it will have to.
   Programs can be distributed under any license you please,
though to achieve efficient portable programs,
it'd better be source licenses.
   Of course, we are convinced that for deep cybernetical reasons,
free software is the way to go,
and is potentially much more powerful and efficient
than black-box commercial software.
   But we'll do nothing against people who will try to implement such beasts,
and even help them at adapting Tunes to it,
in as much as their software will not be any harmful to other software.

Second Note:
   Some people have objected to our using the GNU LGPL,
either because they do not like freeware in general,
or hate the GNU project or some GNU project leader(s).
   That we use the GNU LGPL does not mean that we share all
the ideas from the otherwise fine people behind the GNU project;
if we did share all their ideas, Tunes would be a subproject of GNU,
which it sure isn't.
   What ideas exactly we share or not with them
is not a point we will develop here or anywhere,
because we haven't studied it, because it just doesn't interest us.
Maybe those people who object to our using the LGPL
have a pronounced position about the GNU project,
but we currently don't.
Surely we are very grateful for their providing us
a free platform for cross-development of our system,
though we'd like to eventually get rid of their tools
(at least in their current form) once we bootstrapped our system.
   We use the LGPL because we wanted a way to protect
both your rights and ours, and to protect each of us from the other:
with such a freeware license, you can trust the software,
because there's the source available
so anyone proficient can correct eventual bugs;
we can trust that no one will steal another one's work,
because it would break the license;
we can trust we won't kill each other,
because it is clear that basically
no money will have to be shared between us.
   Among freeware licenses, we chose the GNU LGPL,
because it was carefully made by lawyers,
and meets all our requirements.
Also, its advantages have made it widespread,
and sharing the same license will make our code sharing
with other projects far easier.
   If you disapprove this license,
or would like to do things not covered by the license,
you can contact us, so we grant you another license.
If you have any better idea for a license,
we'll be glad you share it with us.


+++ Info about TUNES +++

   We are writing documentation of the work together with it.
   Installation information lies in the INSTALL file.
   Information about TUNES is available on the World Wide Web,
in the Tunes page, a copy of which lies in directory doc/www/.
The URL is "http://www.tunes.org/".
As the page evolves quickly,
be warned that the copy will become out of date quickly.
   A mailing list for TUNES exists,
about which you can find information in those WWW pages.
   You may also want to look by yourself at all the files in distribution,
which often contain their own documentation. Be sure to read README files.

   More information about how to use the project distribution
lies in file INSTALL in current directory.


+++ Reusing TUNES code +++

   Tunes is NOT in the public domain, it is copyrighted work.
Please carefully read about Licensing issues above.
However, Tunes is free software, which means that you can freely
take code from it, but must respect according credits.
As Tunes might itself have taken the code from other sources,
you must also respect credits to original authors and contributors
if you take code from these files. And of course, all the software
must stay free. Otherwise, you are most welcome to reuse code from Tunes.
Of course, a friendly note to tell us is welcome, too, and we can
provide help to your reusing our code.
   [Ok, there is not much code to reuse by now]


+++ Contacting the TUNES team +++

   The simplest way to contact the members is to send e-mail to the list
at address << tunes@tunes.org >>
   You can also contact me at the following physical address:

Franois-Ren "Far" Bn RIDEAU DANG-VU    ("Far" will suffice)
6, rue Augustin Thierry
75019 PARIS
FRANCE
Phone number: +33 (0)142026735

Note: to contact me, see
http://www.tunes.org/~fare/contact.html

				Francois-Rene "Fare" Ban RIDEAU DANG-VU
					TUNES Project coordinator.
