19 lines
1.1 KiB
Plaintext
19 lines
1.1 KiB
Plaintext
README file
|
|
|
|
n. Hacker's-eye introduction traditionally included in the top-level
|
|
directory of a Unix source distribution, containing a pointer to more
|
|
detailed documentation, credits, miscellaneous revision history, notes, etc.
|
|
In the Mac and PC worlds, software is not usually distributed in source
|
|
form, and the README is more likely to contain user-oriented material like
|
|
last-minute documentation changes, error workarounds, and restrictions. When
|
|
asked, hackers invariably relate the README convention to the famous scene
|
|
in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland in which Alice confronts
|
|
magic munchies labeled Eat Me and Drink Me. The file may be named README, or
|
|
READ.ME, or rarely ReadMe or readme.txt or some other variant. The
|
|
all-upper-case spellings, however, are universal among Unix programmers. By
|
|
ancient tradition, real source files have all-lowercase names and
|
|
all-uppercase is reserved for metadata, comments, and grafitti. This is
|
|
functional; because 'A' sorts before 'a' in ASCII, the README will appear in
|
|
directory listings before any source file.
|
|
|