####
# Sirobot - a web downloading tool 
#   by Settel <settel@sirlab.de>
#   see http://www.sirlab.de/linux/ for the latest release


What do I need to run Sirobot?
==============================

Here are the ingredients you need to run Sirobot:
  - a working Perl 5 interpreter
      You can find out if this is true by typing 
         perl -v

      Some text like "This is perl, version 5.005_03 built for i386-linux" 
      along with a copyright notice should appear. If it says command not 
      found, see http://www.perl.com/ for how to install Perl 5.

  - the perl libraries LWP, URI, IO.
      First, find out what libraries are missing:
         perl -e 'use LWP;print("LWP is installed\n");'
         perl -e 'use URI;print("URI is installed\n");'
         perl -e 'use IO;print("IO is installed\n");'

      If they are all installed and working, a short message will appear
      for each package. Otherwise, Perl will display an error message, 
      stating it couldn't locate <missingpackage>.pm in @INC.
      
      You can always get missing libraries from CPAN (see below):
      LWP (package libwww-perl, NOT LWPng and NOT LWP-attic!):  
        http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/LWP/
        [ last tested version: libwww-perl-5.47 ]
      URI (package URI):     
        http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/URI/
        [ last tested version: URI-1.04 ]
      IO (package IO):     
        http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/IO/
        [ last tested version: IO-1.20 ]

      If a package demands another library it couldn't find, you can get
      it from CPAN, too (http://www.perl.com/CPAN/).

  - optionally: the Curses library
      The Curses library is used by Sirobot to show progress bars and 
      other informations in a more appealing way.

      First, find out whether the library is installed or not:
         perl -e 'use Curses;print("Curses is installed\n");'

      The same rules are valid for this package as for LWP, IO and URI.

      Curses (package Curses, this one is optionally!):     
        http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/Curses/
        [ last tested version: Curses-1.02 ]
  
  - optionally: a SSL library
      To use https (secure HTTP) you need a SSL library that extends 
      the capabilities of LWP. Due to USA's export restrictions for
      cryptographic software, LWP is shipped without SSL support and must
      be obtained otherwise. Please refer to the README.SSL file included
      in any LWP package for details.

  - Sirobot itself
      This package includes a file called sirobot.pl. That's the Sirobot
      Perl script. Sirobot doesn't need any further files, directories or
      configuration files to work.


That's all.


How to install Sirobot?
=======================

Sirobot is a Perl script and therefor it needs a perl interpreter to run
(the positive aspect of this is it doesn't need to be compiled :-)).
Find out where perl is installed and set the first line of sirobot.pl 
accordingly. Remember that the first two characters of the first line
must be #! followed by the full path of perl, eg.
             #!/usr/bin/perl
             
An additional option -w may be added for debugging purposes but that's not 
necessary.


Now you can see if everything works. Just type 
             sirobot.pl

If no errors occure, a short usage information will appear. Your 
installation is complete then. Read the README as well as the documentation 
in doc/ to learn about how to use Sirobot.

Have fun.
  Settel
