README

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File:README-cURL black trimmed.png
Screenshot of the README file of cURL

In software distribution and software development, a README file contains information about the other files in a directory or archive of computer software. A form of documentation, it is usually a simple plain text file called README, Read Me, READ.ME, README.txt,[1] or README.md (to indicate the use of Markdown)

The file's name is generally written in uppercase. On Unix-like systems in particular, this causes it to stand outTemplate:Sndboth because lowercase filenames are more common, and because the ls command commonly sorts and displays files in ASCII-code order, in which uppercase filenames will appear first.[nb 1]

Contents

A README file typically encompasses:

History

The convention of including a README file began in the mid-1970s.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Early Macintosh system software installed a Read Me on the Startup Disk, and README files commonly accompanied third-party software.

In particular, there is a long history of free software and open-source software including a README file; the GNU Coding Standards encourage including one to provide "a general overview of the package".[10]

Since the advent of the web as a de facto standard platform for software distribution, many software packages have moved (or occasionally, copied) some of the above ancillary files and pieces of information to a website or wiki, sometimes including the README itself, or sometimes leaving behind only a brief README file without all of the information required by a new user of the software.

The popular source code hosting website GitHub strongly encourages the creation of a README fileTemplate:Spaced ndashif one exists in the main (top-level) directory of a repository, it is automatically presented on the repository's front page.[11] In addition to plain text, various other formats and file extensions are also supported,[12] and HTML conversion takes extensions into accountTemplate:Spaced ndashin particular a README.md is treated as GitHub Flavored Markdown.

As a generic term

The expression "readme file" is also sometimes used generically, for other files with a similar purpose.[13] For example, the source-code distributions of many free software packages (especially those following the Gnits Standards or those produced with GNU Autotools) include a standard set of readme files:

README General information
AUTHORS Credits
THANKS Acknowledgments
CHANGELOG A detailed changelog, intended for programmers
NEWS A basic changelog, intended for users
INSTALL Installation instructions
COPYING / LICENSE Copyright and licensing information
BUGS Known bugs and instructions on reporting new ones
CONTRIBUTING / HACKING Guide for prospective contributors to the project

Also commonly distributed with software packages are an FAQ file and a TODO file, which lists planned improvements.

See also

Notes

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References

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Further reading

  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". [1][2]
  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  • Template:Cite magazine [3]
  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". [4]

This article is based in part on the Jargon File, which is in the public domain.

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ESR_1996_Dict
  2. ↑ a b Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Manes_1996
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Decus_1974_readme
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Decus_1975_readme
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named PWB_1977
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named UNIX7_1979
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BSD_1980
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Langemeier_2011
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Abdelhafith_2015
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GNU_Standards
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Github_2014_Markup
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".


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