This is the GNU groff document formatting system.  The version number
is given in the file VERSION.

Included in this release are implementations of troff, pic, eqn, tbl,
refer, the -man macros and the -ms macros, and drivers for PostScript,
TeX dvi format, and typewriter-like devices.  Also included is a
modified version of the Berkeley -me macros, an enhanced version of
the X11 xditview previewer, and an implementation of the -mm macros
contributed by Joergen Haegg (jh@efd.lth.se).

You will require a C++ compiler implementing at least version 2.0 of
the C++ language.  I suggest GNU C++ version 1.40.3.  (Do not use
version 1.39.)  You may also be able use GNU C/C++ version 2.0, but
you should apply the patch given in the file INSTALL.  You will also
require C++ header files that are fairly compliant with ANSI C.

See the file INSTALL for installation instructions.

The file CHANGES describes recent user-visible changes to groff.

Groff is free software. See the file LICENSE for copying permission.

The file PROBLEMS describes various problems that have been
encountered in compiling, installing, and running groff.

For the moment, the documentation assumes that you are already
familiar with the Unix versions of troff, -man, -ms and the
preprocessors.

People occasionally ask me where they can get binaries of groff for
various systems.  If you are prepared to make binaries available,
please let me know and tell me how people can get them, the systems
they will run on, and the version of groff they are for.  (See the
last paragraph of the INSTALL file for how to make a binary
distribution.)  I'll keep a list which I can send to people who are
looking for binaries.

Please report bugs using the form in the file BUG-REPORT; the idea of
this is to make sure that I have all the information I need to fix the
bug.  At the very least, read the BUG-REPORT form and make sure that
you supply all the information that it asks for.  Even if you are not
sure that something is a bug, report it using BUG-REPORT: this will
enable me to determine whether it really is a bug or not.  As well as
bug reports, I would be interested in suggestions for improvements to
groff (no matter how small).

James Clark
jjc@jclark.com
