README
1===========
2cowsay 3.04
3===========
4
5cowsay is a configurable talking cow, written in Perl. It operates
6much as the figlet program does, and it written in the same spirit
7of silliness.
8
9cowsay is actually a pretty old program. It has not really been
10released before, and I am releasing it in the hope that someone
11other than myself will be amused by it.
12
13The first major version of cowsay had one cow and one message
14template: $foo is $verb $bar. Not very flexible, but people managed
15to do pretty interesting things with it. The second major version
16scrapped many of the limitations of the first, by allowing arbitrary
17messages, multiple cowfiles, and even support for cows talking in
18figlet. The third version was a rewrite of the second into Perl
195, whereupon the code got a lot smaller and more manageable. :-)
20
21If you are using Perl 5.004, you may have problems with Text::Wrap.
22(Yeesh, this module changes more than it should...) I've included
23a diff for the Text::Wrap (version 97.011701) that is shipped with
245.004_04; the concept is simple enough that even older Perls can
25take advantage of this silly little patch; if there is a "sub fill"
26in the documentation for the module, copy it to a more useful
27section of that file. If not, just take "sub fill" wholesale from
28the patch. Oh, and consider upgrading to 5.005_03 or later.
29Please. You'll like it, I promise.
30
31To install cowsay, consult the INSTALL file in this directory.
32
33For the terms and conditions of use, consult the LICENSE file in
34this directory.
35
36-- tony
37
README.md
1# rank-amateur-cowsay
2
3This is cowsay, imported directly from my ancient CVS repository,
4plus a few documentation tweaks to make it a bit more friendly to
5GitHub. Functionality remains unchanged from all pre-GitHub commits.
6
7Cowsay was a project for learning how to use Perl 5, as well as
8general amusement. If the code looks like it was written by an
9inexperienced programmer, that's because it was.
10
11If you are interested in the future of cowsay beyond what is here,
12then I encourage you to read CONTRIBUTING.md in this directory.
13
14I am no longer interested in maintaining cowsay; there are other
15demands on my time that take precedence.
16
17Enthusiasm for cowsay has gone far beyond what I expected, and if
18cowsay is to have a future, then the least I can do is not stand
19in the way of it.
20
21Enjoy cowsay for what it was meant to be: simple and silly.
22