README for TkDesk 1.0a2                                            28.4.96
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Changes since 1.0a1:

   Lots. Really. For a detailed list of modifications and new features
   have a look at the list of changes at the end of this posting.
   Most important changes are:
   
   o TkDesk now works with both Tcl 7.4/Tk 4.0 and Tcl 7.5/Tk 4.1.
   o Much improved configuration, compilation and installation of TkDesk.
     TkDesk should now configure, compile and install "out of the box"
     at least for Linux users with Slackware 3.0.
   o Lots of bug fixes.
   o Some nice little new features.
   o Much better bug-mailing facility :-)
   
What is TkDesk?

   TkDesk is a graphical file manager for Unix (esp. Linux) and the X
   Window System. Compared with other file managers available, it offers
   the most complete set of file operations and services, plus gives the
   user the ability to configure most every aspect of TkDesk in a
   powerful way. The reason for this is the use of Tcl/Tk as the
   configuration and (for the greatest part of TkDesk) implementation
   language. TkDesk has been influenced by various other systems and file
   managers, such as 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 file browsers and file list windows,
   o Configurable file-specific popup-menus,
   o History of visited directories, opened files, executed commands,
     and others, which is automatically saved to disk,
   o Find files through their annotation, name, contents, size or age,
   o A trash can for safe deletion of files and directories,
   o Drag and drop,
   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 Online help (not much yet, but this will be extended in future
     releases), a postscript version of the online guide can be found
     in the doc subdirectory,
   o A configurable application bar, with cascaded popup menus for
     each button,
   o A built-in multi-buffer editor,
   o Sound support,
   o Powerful configuration of nearly all aspect of TkDesk through Tcl/Tk,
   o Free of charge! But see the file COPYING for information on
     usage and redistribution of TkDesk.

   Please see the file CHANGES for a detailed list of what has changed
   since 1.0a1.

How do I install it?

   See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to install TkDesk. I am also
   thinking about making binary distributions of TkDesk available (once it
   is out of Alpha/Beta). Stay tuned for more information.

How mature is TkDesk? It's alpha, isn't it?

   I've been working on TkDesk for over 2 years now. It started out as a
   simple toy for learning Tcl/Tk, but over the years I have added more
   and more functions, removed useless ones, removed bugs and added new
   ones (this does of course not apply to the current version ;-).
   Ever since I started with TkDesk, I have been using it myself in every-
   day work under Linux. For that reason I believe that the current
   version of TkDesk is very mature and stable. I haven't run it much on
   Sun systems though, and not at all on any other ones, so I can't say
   much about TkDesk on those machines. For this reason, and since I
   want TkDesk to be tested by as many people as possible before releasing
   the "final" version, I am considering the current version of TkDesk
   to be in "Alpha" state. Quite a stable kind of alpha though, I hope.
   I would compare it with the 0.99.x Linux kernels before Linux 1.0 was
   released, maybe. (Bold statement... ;-))

Is there a Web page for TkDesk?

   Yes, have a look at:
   http://sun1.rrzn-user.uni-hannover.de/~zzhibol/tkdesk/

   Latest bug fixes, new versions and (in the future) binaries will be
   available first from there.
   
   
Good luck (I hope you don't need much) and have fun!!

Christian Bolik (zzhibol@rrzn-user.uni-hannover.de)