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@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +This package contains the GNU find, xargs, and locate programs. find +and xargs comply with POSIX 1003.2, as far as I know (with the +exception of the "+" modifier for the "-exec" action, which isn't +implemented yet). They also support a large number of additional +options, some borrowed from Unix and some unique to GNU. + +See the file NEWS for a list of major changes in the current release. + +See the file INSTALL for compilation and installation instructions. + +To verify the GPG signature of the release, you will need the public +key of the findutils maintainer. You can download this from +ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-keyring.gpg. Alternatively, you could query +a PGP keyserver, but you will need to use one that can cope with +subkeys containing photos. Many older key servers cannot do this. I +use subkeys.pgp.net. I think that one works. See also the +"Downloading" section of http://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/. + +Special configure options: + +--with-afs + Make find support "-fstype afs". Requires /afs, /usr/afsws/lib, and +/usr/afsws/include. configure doesn't add AFS support +automatically because it adds considerably to find's size, and the +AFS libraries need -lucb on Solaris, which breaks find. + +--enable-id-cache + Make tables of used UIDs and GIDs at startup instead of using +getpwuid or getgrgid when needed. Speeds up -nouser and -nogroup +unless you are running NIS or Hesiod, which make password and group +calls very expensive. + +--enable-debug + Produce output on the standard error output indicating what find is +doing. This information includes details about how the command line +has been parsed and what files have been stat()ed. This output is +normally interesting only to the maintainer, and so is off by default. + +DEFAULT_ARG_SIZE=<value> + If this environment variable is defined to a numeric expression +during configure, it determines the default argument size limits used +by xargs without -s, and by find, when spawning child processes. +Otherwise, the default is set at 128 kibibytes. If the system cannot +support the default limit, the system's limit will be used instead. + + +To gain speed, GNU find avoids statting files whenever possible. +It does this by: +1. Checking the number of links to directories and not statting files +that it knows aren't directories until it encounters a test or action +that needs the stat info. +2. Rearranging the command line, where possible, so that it can do +tests that don't require a stat before tests that do, in hopes that +the latter will be skipped because of a -o/-a conjunction. (But it +only does this where it will leave the output unchanged.) + +The locate program and its helper programs are derived (heavily +modified) from James Woods' public domain fast-find code, which is +also distributed with the 4.3BSD find. Because POSIX.2 requires `find +foo' to have the same effect as `find foo -print', the fast-find +searching has been moved to a separate program, `locate'; the same +thing has been done in 4.4BSD. If you use locate, you should run the +included `updatedb' script from cron periodically (typically nightly). + +Mail suggestions and bug reports for these programs to +bug-findutils@gnu.org. |