README                       TkDesk 1.0b5                        2.12.1997
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       TkDesk - a Desktop and File Manager for UNIX's running X11

       
Changes since 1.0b4:

   Lots.  Really.  It's been almost 12 months since the last release,
   so I had time to put in lots of new features and bug fixes.  Somehow
   I really wonder why I didn't release anything in the meantime, but
   well, didn't get around to it I guess.  I plan to release more often
   in the future though...

   Here's a list of the more important things that have been changed
   or added:

   o Much simplified installation through GNU autoconf magic
   o Directory-specific button bars
   o "Unlimited" number of entries in cascading popup menus
   o Commands may now be executed as "root" from within TkDesk
   o Multiple file masks may now be defined, also added a mask history
   o Added cascading popup menus for both directories *and* files
   o Pressing both left and right mouse buttons in most history or
     file tree popup menus brings up the item's popup menu
   o Big performance improvements with reading directories and icon display
   o Virtually all colors and fonts used by TkDesk are now configurable
     (if a font or color is not available, TkDesk will use a fallback)
   o Made file selection bindings more Motif-compliant.  Especially
     single files are now selected using the Control-key.  The Shift-key
     is now used for range selections.
   o Remote control of TkDesk through an embedded TCP/IP server
   o Tons of bug fixes
   o Support for Tcl/Tk 8.0 ... is unfortunately not there yet :-(.
     As TkDesk is built using [incr Tcl] it won't be able to support
     8.0 before [incr Tcl] does.

   Please also take a look at the change log ("Help"/"Changes"),
   especially for new configuration possibilities!

      
What is TkDesk?

   TkDesk is a graphical desktop and file manager for several brands
   of UNIX (such as Linux) and the X Window System.  It offers a very
   rich set of file operations and services, and gives the user the
   ability to configure most aspects of TkDesk in a powerful way.  The
   reason for this is the use of Tcl/Tk as the configuration and (for
   the biggest part of TkDesk) implementation language.

   TkDesk has been influenced by various other systems and file managers:
   NeXT, for laying out the file browser windows, Apple Finder, for the
   idea of file annotations and, (shock horror), Windows 95, for some
   other (of course minor and unimportant ;-)) inspirations.
 
   This is a brief overview of the most prominent features of TkDesk:
 
   o Arbitrary number of automatically refreshed file browsers and file
     list windows,
   o Configurable file-specific popup-menus,
   o Drag and drop,
   o Files and directories may also be dropped onto the root window,
   o Configurable application bar, with several displays and cascadable
     popup menus for each button, files can also be dropped here,
   o History of visited directories, opened files, executed commands
     and many other things, which is automatically saved to disk,
   o Find files through their annotation, name, contents, size or age,
   o Trash can for safe "deletion" of files and directories,
   o Calculation of disk usage for directory hierarchies,
   o All file operations (find, copy, disk usage, etc.) are carried out
     in the background,
   o Traversal of directory hierarchies through recursive cascaded menus,
   o Bookmarks, create menu entries for often used files/directories,
   o Comprehensive hypertextish online help (slightly out of date in this
     release...),
   o Built-in multi-buffer editor, providing virtually unlimited undo,
   o Remote control of Netscape and XEmacs,
   o Sound support,
   o Powerful on-the-fly configuration of nearly all aspects of TkDesk
     using Tcl/Tk, allowing for unlimited extensibility,
   o Free of charge! But see the file COPYING, or menu entry
     Help/License for information on usage and redistribution of TkDesk.

How do I install TkDesk?

   See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to install TkDesk.
   Usually the steps are: Install Tcl/Tk if you still don't have it,
   and then run "./configure", "make", and "make install".

Is there a Web page for TkDesk?

   Yes, please take a look at:
   http://people.mainz.netsurf.de/~bolik/tkdesk/

   Latest bug fixes, new versions and (in the future) binaries will be
   available first from there, or from the TkDesk mailing list.

Oh, there is a mailing list for TkDesk?

   Yes there is (thanks again to Chris Sterritt for running this list!).
   To subscribe, please send an email to majordomo@mrj.com with an empty
   subject, and the body "subscribe tkdesk".  There is also an archive
   of this list available on the web at
   http://www.findmail.com/listsaver/tkdesk
   
   
Hope you enjoy TkDesk!

     Christian  (Christian.Bolik@mainz.netsurf.de)