X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=readme.txt;h=57c4bd1cfe0a9adc11693ae24fc8231d416fe375;hb=4199966900e7b0d79292cf5332f76ec031f0e066;hp=e34bb580ff2a0790526e34a3a335b79c3a4b707b;hpb=165aefe390286aedfbec27b4864b305b52f4a840;p=feisty_meow.git

diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index e34bb580..57c4bd1c 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,51 @@
 
-This is the "feisty meow (TM) concerns" codebase top folder.
+This is the "feisty meow® concerns" codebase top folder.
 
-Feisty Meow (TM) Concerns codebase comprises some but probably not all of several projects that
+For information on building the source code, see the file "building.txt".
+
+####
+
+Feisty Meow Concerns Ltd. is a small software shop that concentrates on
+building high quality, portable, open source projects in a variety of
+languages (primarily bash, perl, python, C++, and Java).  Here are some
+highlights of our main products:
+
+  Bookmark Processing Tools - can take a mozilla bookmark file or arbitrary
+     web page and extract all the links out of it, building a csv database of
+     web links.  Using that database, a variety of output formats are
+     provided, including one that outputs a mozilla bookmark file again.
+     The most useful feature is probably the marks checker that operates on
+     our csv format and that locates all unreachable links in the file and
+     separates them out.
+
+  CROMP protocol - supports transmission of objects across the network and
+     provides a platform independent method for RPC and other types of
+     communication.
+
+  Octopus design pattern - the underpinning of the CROMP protocol.  An octopus
+     has an arbitrary number of tentacles (no, not just eight) which are each
+     responsible for consuming a different type of object (or datum).
+
+  Fast Templates and Portable Abstractions - the class libraries of Feisty Meow
+     provide numerous different data structures and programming language
+     abstractions (like threads and state machines).  There are also some
+     fairly ancient templates (in use since late 80s) which in many cases
+     perform faster than their STL analogues.
+
+  CLAM System - Feisty Meow is the home site of the CLAM makefile system.  The
+     CLAM system is a flexible and extensible method for building C++ and
+     C# files using makefiles.
+
+####
+
+Historical note:
+Feisty Meow® Concerns codebase comprises some but probably not all of several projects that
 have come before.  These include the Twain.COM library scripts, the Yeti / YetiCode library
-scripts, the HOOPLE 1 and HOOPLE 2 C++ Codebases, the Fred Huffhines opensource LSL scripts,
+scripts, the HOOPLE 1 and HOOPLE 2 C++ Codebases, the Fred Huffhines open source LSL scripts,
 the CLAM build system, and a variety of other efforts.
 
+####
+
 Directories and files of interest here...
 
 scripts/
@@ -13,7 +53,7 @@ scripts/
     languages, such as bash and perl.  These were the core of the YetiCode scripts library.
 
 nucleus/
-    Source for the basic modules of the Feisty Meow (TM) codebase.  This includes generic
+    Source for the basic modules of the Feisty Meow® codebase.  This includes generic
     data structures, useful utilities, and the like.  This hierarchy, plus octopi and graphiq,
     formed the major parts of hoople1 and hoople2.
 
@@ -44,6 +84,11 @@ kona/
     Our burgeoning Java libraries.  Not much to see here yet, but there is some code piling
     up for these that we will try to release soon.
 
+osgi/
+    Some example bundles for Java OSGi.  These may eventually fill out with real material,
+    but currently they are just tracking the investigation we did into creating bundles and
+    running using them.
+
 production/
     Machinery for getting releases out the door, including the generated files such as binaries
     and build system tools.
@@ -55,3 +100,23 @@ webby/
     Source code specifically for web programming and building sites.  Mainly a few javascript
     files we keep around.
 
+####
+
+Notable Prerequisites for Using the Feisty Meow® codebase:
+
+  Software required to compile under Linux:
+    Gnu C++
+    A few free source libraries (see "building.txt" for more information).
+
+  Software required to compiler under MS-windows:
+    The free Microsoft compiler should build the codebase but it is untested.
+    The full version of MS Visual Studio 2010 (version 10) is supported.
+      --but this has fallen into disrepair.
+    Gnu C++ should compile the codebase but it is also untested recently.
+
+####
+
+More information is available at the official site http://feistymeow.org
+
+####
+