README
1This file is an abridged version of README from bzip2 1.0.4
2Build instructions (which are not relevant to busyboxed bzip2)
3are removed.
4===========================================================
5
6
7This is the README for bzip2/libzip2.
8This version is fully compatible with the previous public releases.
9
10------------------------------------------------------------------
11This file is part of bzip2/libbzip2, a program and library for
12lossless, block-sorting data compression.
13
14bzip2/libbzip2 version 1.0.4 of 20 December 2006
15Copyright (C) 1996-2006 Julian Seward <jseward@bzip.org>
16
17Please read the WARNING, DISCLAIMER and PATENTS sections in this file.
18
19This program is released under the terms of the license contained
20in the file LICENSE.
21------------------------------------------------------------------
22
23Please read and be aware of the following:
24
25
26WARNING:
27
28 This program and library (attempts to) compress data by
29 performing several non-trivial transformations on it.
30 Unless you are 100% familiar with *all* the algorithms
31 contained herein, and with the consequences of modifying them,
32 you should NOT meddle with the compression or decompression
33 machinery. Incorrect changes can and very likely *will*
34 lead to disastrous loss of data.
35
36
37DISCLAIMER:
38
39 I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA ARISING FROM THE
40 USE OF THIS PROGRAM/LIBRARY, HOWSOEVER CAUSED.
41
42 Every compression of a file implies an assumption that the
43 compressed file can be decompressed to reproduce the original.
44 Great efforts in design, coding and testing have been made to
45 ensure that this program works correctly. However, the complexity
46 of the algorithms, and, in particular, the presence of various
47 special cases in the code which occur with very low but non-zero
48 probability make it impossible to rule out the possibility of bugs
49 remaining in the program. DO NOT COMPRESS ANY DATA WITH THIS
50 PROGRAM UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO ACCEPT THE POSSIBILITY, HOWEVER
51 SMALL, THAT THE DATA WILL NOT BE RECOVERABLE.
52
53 That is not to say this program is inherently unreliable.
54 Indeed, I very much hope the opposite is true. bzip2/libbzip2
55 has been carefully constructed and extensively tested.
56
57
58PATENTS:
59
60 To the best of my knowledge, bzip2/libbzip2 does not use any
61 patented algorithms. However, I do not have the resources
62 to carry out a patent search. Therefore I cannot give any
63 guarantee of the above statement.
64
65
66I hope you find bzip2 useful. Feel free to contact me at
67 jseward@bzip.org
68if you have any suggestions or queries. Many people mailed me with
69comments, suggestions and patches after the releases of bzip-0.15,
70bzip-0.21, and bzip2 versions 0.1pl2, 0.9.0, 0.9.5, 1.0.0, 1.0.1,
711.0.2 and 1.0.3, and the changes in bzip2 are largely a result of this
72feedback. I thank you for your comments.
73
74bzip2's "home" is http://www.bzip.org/
75
76Julian Seward
77jseward@bzip.org
78Cambridge, UK.
79
8018 July 1996 (version 0.15)
8125 August 1996 (version 0.21)
82 7 August 1997 (bzip2, version 0.1)
8329 August 1997 (bzip2, version 0.1pl2)
8423 August 1998 (bzip2, version 0.9.0)
85 8 June 1999 (bzip2, version 0.9.5)
86 4 Sept 1999 (bzip2, version 0.9.5d)
87 5 May 2000 (bzip2, version 1.0pre8)
8830 December 2001 (bzip2, version 1.0.2pre1)
8915 February 2005 (bzip2, version 1.0.3)
9020 December 2006 (bzip2, version 1.0.4)
91