82 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
82 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
|
Bunyip Information Systems
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
about archie 3.0
|
||
|
|
--------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
What is archie?
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The archie information system is a network-based information tool
|
||
|
|
offering proactive data retrieval and indexing for widely distributed
|
||
|
|
collections of data.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The archie Data Gathering Component automates the gathering, indexing and
|
||
|
|
maintenance of information, allowing information providers to offer
|
||
|
|
improved resource discovery and access to information.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The archie User Access Component allows your users to locate and access
|
||
|
|
your information using a variety of interfaces and search methods.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Given the number of hosts being used as archive sites nowadays, there can
|
||
|
|
be great difficulty in finding needed software in a distributed
|
||
|
|
environment. You may know that the software that you need is out there,
|
||
|
|
but it can sometimes be difficult to find. Perhaps the best known
|
||
|
|
application of the archie system is to maintain this Internet Archives
|
||
|
|
database. The database, already available from a number of service
|
||
|
|
providers across the Internet, currently contains the names of over
|
||
|
|
2,400,000 files at over 1,000 anonymous FTP archive sites. Using this
|
||
|
|
database, users can rapidly locate needed files without the need to log
|
||
|
|
onto dozens or even hundreds of machines. archie servers offering this
|
||
|
|
database currently receive over 50,000 queries per day.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Users can ask archie to search for specific name strings. For example,
|
||
|
|
"prog kcl" would find all occurrences of the string "kcl" and tell you which
|
||
|
|
hosts have entries with this string, the size of the program, its last
|
||
|
|
modification date and where it can be found on the host along with some
|
||
|
|
other useful information. In this example, you could thus find those
|
||
|
|
archive sites that are storing Kyoto Common Lisp. With one central database
|
||
|
|
for all the archive sites we know about, archie greatly speeds the task of
|
||
|
|
finding a specific program on the net.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
archie also maintains a 'Software Description Database' which consists
|
||
|
|
of the names and descriptions of various software packages, documents
|
||
|
|
and datasets that are kept on anonymous ftp archive sites all around the
|
||
|
|
Internet. The 'whatis' command allows you to search this database.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
But the archie system is much more than the Internet Archives database.
|
||
|
|
With the latest release, archie has been expanded into a generalized
|
||
|
|
information gathering and distributed database maintenance tool. Using
|
||
|
|
archie, you can build an up-to-date, accurate directory of Internet
|
||
|
|
services, or define new databases and gather entries from across the
|
||
|
|
network. With archie your information collections are updated as often as
|
||
|
|
needed.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The archie system has gained wide acceptance and acclaim on the Internet.
|
||
|
|
It is now accepted as a service integral to the needs of the Internet
|
||
|
|
user community. Gateways to the archie system have been built for a
|
||
|
|
number of other information delivery systems, including the Wide Area
|
||
|
|
Information System (WAIS), Gopher and the World Wide Web (W3).
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
A commercially supported version of the archie system is now available to
|
||
|
|
Internet service providers wishing to build, maintain and offer
|
||
|
|
collections of useful information to an Internet community.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Send comments, bug reports etc to
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
archie-group@bunyip.com
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
If you have a favourite anonymous ftp site that archie doesn't seem to
|
||
|
|
maintain, or if you have additions or corrections to the Software
|
||
|
|
Description database, send mail to
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
archie-admin@bunyip.com
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Please note that it is our policy only to maintain information from sites
|
||
|
|
whose system administrators have given their approval.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The original archie program was written by Alan Emtage (bajan@bunyip.com)
|
||
|
|
and Bill Heelan (wheelan@cs.mcgill.ca), with some ideas and inspiration
|
||
|
|
provided by Peter Deutsch (peterd@bunyip.com). The current version is
|
||
|
|
a product of Bunyip Information Systems. For more information, send email
|
||
|
|
to "info@bunyip.com".
|