CONTENTS ======== 1. Getting started 2. Finding out what's new 3. Finding a specific file 4. Directory structure 5. Mirror sites of Aminet 6. Accessing Aminet on the Internet 7. Accessing Aminet without Internet 8. Copyright status and disclaimer 9. Background information 1. Getting started ------------------ Welcome to Aminet. Aminet is a set of interconnected FTP sites and other file accessing services for Amiga software. It is structured differently from most other FTP sites so please read below instructions carefully. Even more important: Read new/README.BEFORE.UPLOAD before uploading anything, or your upload is in danger of being deleted. Wherever not mentioned otherwise, pub/aminet/ is the path for the files described. If you are new to FTP, you'll find most of your questions answered in the text info/start/FTP-Help.txt here which is also posted to the newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.introduction bi-weekly. The archivers needed to unpack the files stored here can be found in util/arc/, the archivers themselves are self-extracting (in .run format) in most cases, ie. start them and they'll unpack automatically when you run them. 2. Finding out what's new ------------------------- Once you're in pub/aminet/, you can receive the file RECENT for a list of the last seven day's uploads. The newest files are on the top of the list. In FTP, you can type 'get RECENT -' or 'get RECENT |more' to see the new files. Interesting files also found in CHARTS. Once you see a file that interests you, cd to the appropriate directory and have a look at the according .readme file. There you'll usually find a more extensive description. Based on that you may choose to download the file (but never forget to type 'bin' in FTP before you start!). Also, a copy of all recent files can be found in the directory recent/. 3. Finding a specific file -------------------------- Before you start looking, you should be aware that not all Aminet sites are complete. Most delete older files. So if you don't find something at your 'home' mirror, use one of the big sites that keep everything online like ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.uni-paderborn.de or ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk To do a search, download the file INDEX.Z, uncompress it and search for the name or description you've been looking for. Under UNIX, you'd hit CTRL-Z in FTP after the download, type 'zcat INDEX.Z | fgrep -i foo' in order to look for 'foo' and then type 'fg' to return to FTP. Note: Files with an asterisk * in front of the description are not available on that site, refer to one of the complete sites. You may use the version from info/index/ if your terminal is capable of showing more than 80 characters per line. This one doesn't truncate the short descriptions and includes an age column. Better search mechanisms exist through WWW, gopher and email (see below). If you were looking for something on Aminet but only found it elsewhere, please do everyone a favor and upload it to Aminet to make the file easier to find for the next ones. 4. Directory structure ---------------------- Sometimes you are looking for a certain category of file without knowing a name. You then best go by directory. The directories within /pub/aminet/ are: new/ New files, upload here. (See new/README.BEFORE.UPLOAD) priv/ Private uploads. (See new/README.BEFORE.UPLOAD) biz/ Business software hard/ Hardware related comm/ Communications info/ Site information demo/ Euro style demos misc/ Miscellaneous docs/ Text documents mods/ Music modules dev/ Developer software mus/ Music software disk/ Disk tools pix/ Pictures game/ Games software text/ Text related gfx/ Graphics software util/ Utilities A complete list of the sub-directories can be found in the file TREE. A local INDEX with descriptions is in each subdirectory, however it only lists the files that exist on that site, not the ones available elsewhere on Aminet. 5. Mirror sites --------------- These are the members of Aminet and have the files from here. All mirrors have the new files but most delete old files, however ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.uni-paderborn.de and ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk keep all files. Whenever possible, use the mirror that is the closest to your place. Most mirrors get updated three times a day. Location Name IP Address Path Files USA (MO) ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 pub/aminet/ ALL USA (CA) ftp.cdrom.com 192.216.222.5 pub/aminet/ 9000 USA (TX) ftp.etsu.edu 192.43.199.20 pub/aminet/ 5000 USA (WI) ftp.netnet.net 198.70.64.3 pub/aminet/ 10000 Scandinavia ftp.luth.se 130.240.18.2 pub/aminet/ 10000 Switzerland ftp.eunet.ch 146.228.10.16 pub/aminet/ 5500 Switzerland ftp.math.ethz.ch 129.132.104.6 pub/aminet/ 1000 Switzerland litamiga.epfl.ch 128.178.151.32 pub/aminet/ 300 Germany kelly.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.128.206 pub/aminet/ ALL Germany ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.2.42 pub/aminet/ ALL Germany ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.3.2 pub/aminet/ 7000 Germany ftp.uni-oldenburg.de 134.106.40.9 pub/aminet/ 2500 Germany ftp.uni-kl.de 131.246.9.95 pub/aminet/ 1500 Germany ftp.uni-stuttgart.de 129.69.18.15 cd aminet 4500 Germany ftp.uni-siegen.de 141.99.128.1 pub/aminet/ 1500 Germany ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de 130.149.17.7 pub/aminet/ 4000 Germany ftp.stud.fh-heilbronn.de 141.7.1.41 pub/aminet/ 600 Germany ftp.tu-chemnitz.de 192.108.33.193 pub/aminet/ 4000 Germany ftp.rz.uni-wuerzburg.de 132.187.1.2 pub/aminet/ 700 UK ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk 155.198.1.40 pub/aminet/ ALL UK micros.hensa.ac.uk 148.88.8.84 pub/aminet/ 8500 6. Accessing Aminet on the Internet ----------------------------------- There are many other ways than FTP to access Aminet. On the Internet: - ADT. This is a front end for FTP that allows easy access to Aminet. Get it from misc/unix/adt*.c and compile it on your UNIX box by typing 'sh adt.c' - WWW. Mosaic or Lynx are a very decent way to access Aminet. Try the URLs http://ftp.wustl.edu/~aminet/ or http://ftp.eunet.ch/~aminet/ where you can also find pointers to other Aminet sites with WWW support. - FSP. Aminet Files can be downloaded from the FSP site ftp.luth.se at port 6969 and from disun3.epfl.ch port 9999. ftp.wustl.edu and ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk have FSP on port 21, but can't be reached from everywhere (just try). Uploads are accepted at wustl and luth. - Telnet. ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk strikes again. You can telnet to 146.169.2.1 and log in as 'sources', which gives you a UNIX account where you can download the files on src using commands like 'sz' and 'kermit', or just browse around. - NFS. The only Aminet site that allows NFS mounting of the archives is ftp.wustl.edu. FTP there and read the details in /README.NFS - IRC. On Internet Relay Chat, you can talk to various server robots like Mama, LitBot and MerBot, to do queries and retrievals. Find out more about them using '/msg mama help', for example. - Finger. To find out what's been uploaded to Aminet within the last week, enter 'finger aminet@ftp.wustl.edu', 'finger aminet@ftp.eunet.ch' or 'finger aminet@ftp.etsu.edu' - Gopher. Gopher is specially supported by several Aminet sites. Just type 'gopher ' or 'gopher -p '. USA (MO) ftp.wustl.edu 1/pub/aminet/info/goph USA (TX) ftp.etsu.edu 1/AmigaArchives/Aminet SWITZERLAND ftp.eunet.ch 1/pub/aminet/info/goph GERMANY ftp.uni-paderborn.de 1/Service/FTP/Direct/ftp-server/aminet UK ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk 1/pub/aminet/info/goph 7. Accessing Aminet without Internet ------------------------------------ - Get internet access. Certainly the most comfortable way to access Aminet but sometimes expensive. Some Internet providers are: USA Portal Voice 1.408.973.9111 Modem 1.408.973.8091 Netcom Voice 1.408.554.UNIX GERMANY EUnet Voice +49.231.972.00 Fax +49.231.972.1111 SWITZERLAND EUnet Voice +41.1.291.45.80 Fax +41.1.291.46.42 UK Demon Voice +44-81-349-0063 Fax +44-81-349-0309 - Aminet mailserver. The Aminet mail server can do various things for you, like doing finds and accepting uploads, but it does not send out binaries. Send HELP to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu to find out more. - Bin mailserver. The Aminet site src.doc.ic.ac.uk has an email server that sends out uuencoded binaries. Send a message with HELP in the body to ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk or ftpmail@ftp.luth.se . You can also use ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com to retrieve files from any Aminet site, but please use an American one to save bandwidth. Send HELP there for information, too. Germans try ftpmail@uni-paderborn.de . Also, the RECENT and CHARTS files are available from an automatic e-mail server. Send mail to announce@cs.ucdavis.edu with the single word "help" (no quotes) in the body to find out how to use the server. - Modem. The following BBSes carry up-to-date Aminet files. Most have more phone numbers than we can mention here, call to see a list of the others. List sorted by phone number. Country Name FIDO Phone ISDN ------- ---- ---- ----- ---- USA (OR) CryoCafe (+1)503 257 4823 USA (MS) The Gateway 1:3604/60 (+1)601 374 2697 USA (CA) Heavy Metal 1:202/1112 (+1)619 232 4919 USA (NC) The C: Dir (+1)919 787 6211 Canada RCN Networks (+1)418 653 3099 Canada TunnelVisio 1:153/910 (+1)604 535 9826 Canada Intuition (+1)905 569 1482 France Ramses 2:320/104 (+33)1 60037015 Italy Glass Globe 2:332/118 (+39)577 959054 Switzerland Amiga Micro 2:301/819 (+41)1 3001008 (+41)1-3001009 Switzerland Helvetica 2:301/723 (+41)1 3130879 (+41)1-3101016 Switzerland Dolphins (+41)1 8450936 (+41)1-8846028 Switzerland AmiCall 2:301/722 (+41)1 9804297 Switzerland Turicum (+41)1 9918501 (+41)1-9918503 Switzerland Dive-Inn 2:301/325 (+41)22 7518103 (+41)22-7518105 Switzerland Alphanet (+41)38 414081 Switzerland Amiga Magic 2:301/707 (+41)61 9716843 (+41)61-9730019 Austria Amiga World 2:310/72 (+43)1 5044269 (+43)1-5047701 Denmark Scala BBS 2:230/418 (+45)44680300 (+45)44861540 Germany Surprise (+49)201 329761 (+49)201 8315005 Germany T.O.M. (+49)202 595267 Germany SMachine (+49)203 4061447 (+49)203 9940127 Germany Future Line (+49)2041 686829 Germany Blue Moon (+49)2065 66407 Germany PD-STAR (+49)2065 51509 Germany Delvinor (+49)2131 549457 (+49)2131 951253 Germany Debuwi (+49)2236 83233 Germany Darkness (+49)2273 1096 (+49)2273 910062 Germany CBonn (+49)228 666588 Germany Fantasie (+49)2381 675700 Germany Stingray (+49)2385 6542 (+49)2385 910031 Germany ASBM (+49)251 791650 Germany Circus (+49)281 24001 Germany Amiga Mbx (+49)30 3739293 Germany TERM (+49)30 4537288 (+49)30 45470171 Germany Quick (+49)40 5479638 Germany ITHH (+49)40 6064098 (+49)40 60680341 Germany DOOM (+49)4223 8355 (+49)4223 95004 Germany Cosmos-L (+49)4232 8009 (+49)4232 94040 Germany Flight (+49)4442 72138 (+49)4442 920362 Germany Delbox (+49)5250 53785 (+49)5250 99952 Germany MultiCom (+49)5321 45440 (+49)5321 305373 Germany Black-Z (+49)6142 46278 (+49)6142 924080 Germany SLTO (+49)615 264898 Germany TecMania (+49)6157 87427 (+49)6157 910121 Germany 48'er 2:2468/6020 (+49)6203 180293 Germany WestCoast 2:2468/9718.0 (+49)6221 761304 Germany RudisBox (+49)6253 86677 (+49)6253 972100 Germany HIT (+49)681 399426 (+49)681 372552 Germany Groenland (+49)6824 8444 Germany Titan (+49)6826 800391 Germany Outworld (+49)6831 52995 (+49)6831 995003 Germany Outside (+49)6838 84739 Germany BrainWave 2:246/2006.0 (+49)7071 78729 (+49)7071 971213 Germany Amiga Univ. 2:246/1416.0 (+49)7195 179383 Germany Uplink 2:246/2320 (+49)751 96217 Germany Fairytale 2:246/2300 (+49)7541 24362 (+49)7541 930232 Germany Predator 2:2490/1140 (+49)9131 14439 Germany LSD (+49)9133 9591 Germany Turtle 2:2490/1092 (+49)911 3241044 (+49)911 3241055 Germany Lizard (+49)911 476948 Germany Incubus (+49)931 781464 (+49)931 7900200 Germany Candys --- (+49)221 462138 Australia Continental (+61)2949 4256 - Anonymous UUCP. In Germany, you can access the Aminet files at the phone numbers of Brainwave BBS (see above) using the following entry. Download the file "Aminet:INFO" for more information. anarchy Any SER 38400 ATD BBS. ..\c ogin: uanon sword: uanon In Switzerland you can use the Alphanet BBS, ~/archives/aminet - FIDO. If you want to file-request Aminet files, you can do so by requesting the file INFO from 2:246/2006.0. The BBSes which have a FIDO node number mentioned above allow file requests. - Mailing lists. If you want to get the list of new uploads mailed every week, send a mail with 'SUBSCRIBE aminet-weekly foo@bar.edu' in the body to listserv@wunet.wustl.edu or if you want daily updates, just use 'SUBSCRIBE aminet-daily' instead. Replace foo@bar.edu with your email address, of course. Keep the welcome mail in case you forget how to unsubscribe... - Usenet. A list of recent uploads is posted every week to the newsgroups comp.sys.amiga.misc and de.comp.sys.amiga.archive. - EZINFO. This is an internet BBS in Switzerland. Here you can download by Kermit or ZMODEM, but you need to be verified to become user. Modem dial 01 251 20 02, then type 'call b050' to connect to EZINFO. Also try telnet kometh.ethz.ch and 'call b050' from internet. - CD-ROM. Aminet CD 3 and up are available from Stefan Ossowski, Germany (stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de) or Fred Fish (fnf@amigalib.com). For details, see docs/misc/CD-Orders.txt. Aminet CD 2 should still be available from Walnut Creek, talk to orders@cdrom.com - Aminet-on-disk. You can order single Aminet files (3 DM per disk) or per-directory subscriptions (2 DM per disk) from Martin Schulze, Parkstr. 14, 66806 Ensdorf, Germany. Phone: +49 (0) 6831 506171, email masc@coli.uni-sb.de . Send 3 DM in stamps or $2 to get an index disk with instructions. Aminet-on-disk is available on Amiga-Floppy (880k: 3DM, 1.76MB: 5DM), SyQuest 88/105/270MB and 128MB-Magneto-Optical. (DM 0.40 per Megabyte without media costs) 8. Copyright status and disclaimer ---------------------------------- While the files from Aminet are freely distributable, the collection as a whole is copyrighted. Making a CD-ROM of it or mirroring it on a regular basis requires permission from the administrators. That permission will be granted to mirrors if they provide an upload facility. If you as an uploader do not like this policy, don't upload or have your uploads removed. The administrators of Aminet give no warranties concerning the files stored. Use at your own risk. Specifically, we cannot guarantee that the programs are virus-free, uncorrupted, freely distributable or even useful in any way, although we do our best to ensure the above. 9. Background information ------------------------- - History Aminet was founded by members of ICU (computer science students' club) in Zurich, Switzerland, using an A3000UX donated by Commodore Switzerland. In the beginning it was one FTP site among many, but when the formerly biggest site (ab20.larc.nasa.gov) shut down, people started adopting amiga.physik as the replacement. In order to share the burden both performance- and network load wise, two mirror sites were installed. The new 1GB harddisk donated by Walnut Creek and the user community allowed us to keep all old files, while at the same time number of mirror FTP sites increased constantly to currently 10. Today, Aminet is the leading Internet source for Amiga software, giving authors a far-reaching distribution medium and the user community a place to look for both new and old freely distributable software. - Contact addresses Please direct reports about corrupt, illegal or infected files immediately to aminet@ftp.wustl.edu (do not rely on someone else doing it!). People who report a copyrighted file on Aminet get a free CD. For problems local to one mirror, check the local README's to find out about the administrator there. Some of the the people involved: Moderators Urban D. Mueller umueller@wuarchive.wustl.edu Matthias Scheler mscheler@wuarchive.wustl.edu Default contact address: aminet@wuarchive.wustl.edu We hope you enjoy the service.