Lynx README file Lynx Version 2.8.6 is the latest release (October 2006). See the CHANGES file for a complete record of all changes and bug fixes. New releases are announced on the lynx-dev mailing list (see below). FOR REAL NOVICES To use this package, you need a compiler & a bit of experience at very simple programming. If you just want something which will work `out-of-the-box', you can get pre-compiled versions of Lynx by following the links from ; for DOS or Windows, goto . WHAT IS LYNX? Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users running cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices such as vt100 terminals, vt100 emulators running on Windows 95/NT or Macintoshes, or any other character-cell display. It will display Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents containing links to files on the local system, as well as files on remote systems running http, gopher, ftp, wais, nntp, finger, or cso/ph/qi servers, and services accessible via logins to telnet, tn3270 or rlogin accounts. Current versions of Lynx run on Unix, VMS, Windows95/NT, 386DOS and OS/2 EMX. Lynx can be used to access information on the WWW, or to establish information systems intended primarily for local access. Lynx has been used to build several Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS). Lynx can also be used to build systems isolated within a single LAN. HOW TO GET LYNX For the latest release of Lynx goto: ; ; the latest development version is at: . The Lynx homepage is . The on-line help page (enter `h') has links to many useful things. LICENSE Lynx is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) without restrictions on usage or redistribution. The Lynx copyright statement, "COPYHEADER", and GNU GPL, "COPYING", are included in the top-level directory of the distribution. Lynx is supported by the Lynx user community, an entirely volunteer (and unofficial) organization. Certain portions of the Lynx source distribution were originally created by CERN and have been modified during the development of Lynx. See WWW/FreeofCharge.html for copyright info regarding CERN products used in Lynx. Note that Lynx is not self-contained; typically it is built with a variety of add-on libraries, including those for compression, IPv6, SOCKS and SSL support. YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE We believe Lynx works properly for the Year 2000 issues, since it does not store dates in 2-digit form. Since it must communicate with a wide range of web servers, it interprets dates in a variety of formats. In particular, if Lynx receives a date with a 2-digit year, it assumes that values less than 70 are in the range 2000-2069. INSTALLING LYNX To install Lynx, follow the steps in the INSTALLATION file, which is located in the top directory of the source distribution. DOCUMENTATION A users guide is included in this distribution along with a man page for Unix systems and a help file for VMS systems. All documentation is contained in the top directory and the docs, samples and lynx_help subdirectories. While running Lynx, type 'h', 'H', or '?' to invoke the help menu system. From the help menu you may access several useful documents pertaining to Lynx and the World Wide Web. The most important of these is the Lynx Users Guide. By default, Lynx will use the Lynx Enhanced Pages, which includes http links for help and FAQs concerning Lynx. It is recommended that you install your own help menu system at your site in order to lessen the load on http servers. This also will allow you to customize the help menu system for your site and greatly speed up access for those using Lynx over a slow connection. INSTALLING THE DOCUMENTATION For Unix and related systems which support the autoconf configure script, the help menu system is installed by the "make install-help" command. For other systems (such as VMS), copy COPYHEADER and COPYING into the lynx_help/ subdirectory. Then copy the lynx_help subdirectory to a public place on your system, or into your $HOME directory if you are a single user. Finally, edit the lynx.cfg file so that the HELPFILE line is defined as follows: HELPFILE:file://localhost/[public_path]/lynx_help/lynx_help_main.html where [public_path] is the absolute path to the lynx_help directory. Customizing the help menu system is just a matter of editing a set of HTML files. Additional information about installing and customizing the help file set is available at . INSTALLING LYNX To install Lynx, follow the steps in the INSTALLATION file, which is located in the top directory of the source distribution. Win32 users who need pre-compiled distributions should visit the site . PROBLEMS If you experience problems configuring, compiling or installing Lynx, please read Section VI. "General installation instructions" in the INSTALLATION file. Instructions are given there for reporting your problem to the "lynx-dev" mailing list, which is frequented by experienced Lynx users. LYNX-DEV MAILING LIST To subscribe to lynx-dev, send email to with "subscribe" for a subject line. If you wish to unsubscribe from lynx-dev, send email to with "unsubscribe" for a subject line. Any messages you wish to post should be sent to . PLEASE use the lynx-dev list, NOT private email to the developers, for questions or discussion about Lynx, or contributions of patches. Patches should use the unified diff format (diff -u), which can be generated by building the target, "make lynx.patch" after unpacking a pristine copy of the source into a subdirectory called "orig". You need not be subscribed to the lynx-dev list in order to post. If you post without subscribing, though, you should read replies to your questions or comments in the archive since more often than not nobody will send a carbon copy to you. View the archives at: "lynx-dev Mailing list archives"