UPLOADING INSTRUCTIONS ====================== To those who never fully read the README's: Upload foo.readme for foo.lha, where foo.readme contains they keyword Short: plus a 40 character description on the first line. Don't upload if CD releasees are a problem. All others please read below instructions carefully, or your upload is in danger of being deleted. Uploading to Aminet is a bit more complicated than to other places since it's a network of sites and provides more info about files. It's a bit of work for you, but it saves a lot of hassle to the many, many downloaders. WHAT TO UPLOAD -------------- This FTP site is intended for the distribution of any type of freely distributable software. However, due do copyright laws and internet provider restrictions, we have to set the following conditions: DO NOT UPLOAD: - Commercial software - Software that is not OK to distribute on CD (see below for exceptions) - Samples from copyrighted CD's, TV or radio broadcasts - Musical mods that are cover versions from copyrighted songs - Images or animations from copyrighted image sources - Images depicting persons who didn't agree with the distribution - Images of sexual content Please respect these conditions, or you could bring Aminet in danger of being shut down. WHERE TO UPLOAD --------------- Aminet consists of about 20 FTP sites and 60 BBSes that exchange their files. The center of the net is wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4]. If possible, upload there. Most other sites (ftp.luth.se recommended for Europeans) forward the files to that site and delete them locally, they'll be mirrored back later. Do not upload the same file to multiple Aminet sites. There are two upload directories on Aminet sites: /amiga/new for public uploads /amiga/priv for private uploads (local to this site) Uploads in new/ that have no .readme will be deleted since they could be commercial or otherwise suspect. If your upload appears in RECENT within 2 days, everything was fine (don't delete your copy before that happens!). If not, contact aminet@wuarchive.wustl.edu If you provided an Uploader: field, you'll get a mail if we deleted your upload for any reason (e.g. because it was corrupt). PUBLIC UPLOADS -------------- The main difference between Aminet and most other ftp sites is that all uploads have a description. They're collected automatically and listed in RECENT and INDEX. These short (40 characters) descriptions come from the .readme files uploaded along with the binaries. Whenever you upload something, create .readme file for it. An example: Along with PictureView.lha you would upload PictureView.readme. That file could look about like this (no blank lines at the start, and don't include the CUT HERE lines): --------------------------------CUT HERE------------------------------ Short: Shows JPEG & IFF pics. AGA support. V1.2 Uploader: umueller@amiga.icu.net.ch (Urban Mueller) Author: umueller@amiga.icu.net.ch (Urban Mueller) Type: gfx/show This all new picture displayer is capable of showing almost any image type in any resolution. Main features include: - Scrolling screens - CLI and WB interface ...... --------------------------------CUT HERE------------------------------ The meaning of these fiels is: Short: is the only mandatory field, and has to be in the first line. It lets you specify a 40 character description of your upload, that will be seen and INDEX and RECENT so everyone can easily learn about your upload. Don't repeat the file name here, but if several versions of your archive exist, specify the version number here. Try to explain what the program *does*, don't repeat its name here. Uploader: lets you indicate your email address so we can contact you if something goes wrong (and this happens more often than you think). Please always provide it. Author: is the place where you can indicate who created the piece of software you uploaded. Type: is the place where you can propose a directory where the file should be moved. Check the file TREE for possible subdirs. Distribution: lets you specify where your upload is OK to distribute. If you specify the 'NoCD' keyword here, your upload will not appear on the CD's made of this site. After a blank line, you may add a longer description, that could for example be the README found inside the archive. Don't rely on people downloading the .readme file, the info found there should be in the archive, as well. DO NOT append archive contents, we'll do that for you. FILE NAME CONVENTIONS --------------------- The maximum file name length is 20 characters including the archiver suffix (.lha, .dms). Mixed case is OK, but it should be mainly lowercase. Version number are better in the Short: descriptions than in the file name. Also, please do not upload in any other file format than .lha or .lzh, with the exception of custom file format diskettes where you should use .dms 1.11 (do not use DMS 1.51+, those are pirated software). By adhering to this you can save a lot of beginners a lot of trouble. CHECK LIST ---------- - Are the archives okay? Use UNIX LhA or dmscheck to find out. - Is there a .readme for *every* file you are about to upload? - Are the base names of the .readme and the archive the same? Same case? - Are all archive names 20 characters or shorter? - Is there a Short: and if possible an Uploader: field in the .readme's? - Does none of the archives contain copyrighted or Workbench material? - If it's a DMS file, is it using DMS 1.11 and is it a trackloader? Thanks for checking, you're saving us a lot of work. PRIVATE UPLOADS --------------- You may upload files that are not meant to be available to the public to /amiga/priv. Files in there can not be listed, so you have to tell your partner the precise file name. Files remain available at least one week, much longer in most cases. Note that we don't give any warranties about the privacy of the files in there, encrypt them if you like. YOUR COMMENTS ------------- If you have any comments about the policies given, or if you see suspicious, commercial or corrupt files, please immediately send mail to aminet@wuarchive.wustl.edu