source: trunk/third/libgtop/doc/about.texi @ 18272

@node About, White Paper, Top, Top
@chapter About LibGTop

LibGTop is a library to get system specific data such as CPU and Memory Usage
and information about running Processes.

On Systems like Solaris or Digital Unix where you need special privileges to
get those data, it uses a setuid/setgid server to do so.

Even if LibGTop is a part of the GNOME desktop environment
(@uref{http://www.gnome.org}), the main interface of LibGTop is totally
independent from any particular desktop environment, so you can also use it
as a standalone library in any piece of GPLed software.

@menu
* Availability::                Where to get LibGTop
* Supported Platforms::         Supported Platforms
* Mailing List::                Helping with LibGTop development
* Thanks::                      People who contributed to LibGTop
@end menu

@node Availability, Supported Platforms, About, About
@section Availability

The master source of LibGTop is the GNOME CVS tree
(see @uref{http://www.gnome.org} for details), but you can also get the
latest release tarballs from

@display
@uref{ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/libgtop/}
@end display

@noindent
or any of its mirror sites.

The latest stable version of LibGTop is 1.0.12 which is also the one that comes
together with GNOME 1.0. It belongs to @code{LIBGTOP_STABLE_1_0} branch in CVS.
Actual development occurs in the @code{libgtop-GNOME-2-0-port} which is
currently versioned 1.90.0.

@node Supported Platforms, Mailing List, Availability, About
@section Supported Platforms

The stable branch currently supports the following platforms:

@itemize @bullet
@item All versions of Linux

LibGTop was tested under Linux 2.0.x and 2.2.x on the ix86 and the alpha, but
it should also work without problems on SparcLinux or Linux 2.4.x.

Note: I'm speaking of the Linux kernel here, not the GNU/Linux operating system.

@item FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD

LibGTop was tested under FreeBSD 2.2.6 and 3.0, NetBSD 1.3.2 and OpenBSD 2.4.
Support for NetBSD 1.4 was added in LibGTop 1.0.2.

@end itemize

The platforms listed above are known to be stable and working. However, if
you're using the latest development version, you can use it on the following
platforms as well:

@itemize @bullet
@item BSD/OS

There is a port for BSD/OS (aka BSDI) 2.x and 3.x from Timur Bakeyev which
should also work with 4.x. This isn't tested very well, but it should be
working.

@item Digital Unix

There is some basic support for Digital Unix (formerly DEC OSF/1) V3.2C, but
this may still be a bit unstable. I'm currently working on this port as time
permits so it should be fully supported soon.

@item Solaris

The Solaris port currently works on Solaris 7 and maybe also on other releases.
Thanks a lot to Drazen Kacar and everyone who helped working on this port. They
have really done excellent work here and I'm pretty sure that this port will be
fully functional on most Solaris versions in near future.

@end itemize

@node Mailing List, Thanks, Supported Platforms, About
@section Mailing List

There is a @email{libgtop-devel-list@@egroups.com} mailing list for people who
want to help with the development of LibGTop.

It is meant as a low-traffic, but high content-list where we can discuss
technical details such as adding new sysdeps ports etc. 

Especially, I'd like to see people with a deeper knowledge of operating systems
internals joining my list so we can discuss technical details of the sysdeps
code. 

It is *not* for users that want to know how to compile LibGTop etc.

You can subscribe to this mailing list and view the mailing list archives
on the LibGTop Page at @uref{http://www.home-of-linux.org/gnome/libgtop}.

@node Thanks,  , Mailing List, About
@section Thanks

At the place I'd like to thank the following people who contributed to
LibGTop (listed in chronological order):

@itemize @bullet
@item Sebastian Wilhelmi who had the initial idea of LibGTop and helped
me a lot in the early beginning.
@item Josh Sled for the initial FreeBSD port.
@item Jeremy Lea for his BSD patches.
@item Timur Bakeyev for the BSDI port.
@item Drazen Kacar and the other people on the LibGTop development mailing
list for the Solaris port.
@item Kevin Vandersloot for the effort to port to GNOME 2.0.
@item All people sending me patches, having good ideas, ...
@item Everyone I have forgotten in this list ...
@end itemize