archie/release/base/help/english/about/=
2024-05-28 17:59:32 +02:00

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Bunyip Information Systems
about archie 3.0
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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".