[libsigrokdecode.git] / README

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
README
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sigrok project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform,
Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite that supports various
device types (such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, multimeters, and more).

libsigrokdecode is a shared library written in C which provides the basic
API for running sigrok protocol decoders. The protocol decoders themselves
are written in Python.


Status
------

libsigrokdecode is in a usable state and has had official tarball releases.

While the API can change from release to release, this will always be
properly documented and reflected in the package version number and
in the shared library / libtool / .so-file version numbers.

However, there are _NO_ guarantees at all for stable APIs in git snapshots!
Distro packagers should only use released tarballs (no git snapshots).


Requirements
------------

 - git
 - gcc (>= 4.0)
 - make
 - autoconf >= 2.63
 - automake >= 1.11
 - libtool
 - pkg-config >= 0.22
 - libglib >= 2.24.0
 - Python >= 3.0


Building and installing
-----------------------

In order to get the libsigrokdecode source code and build it, run:

 $ git clone git://sigrok.org/libsigrokdecode
 $ cd libsigrokdecode
 $ ./autogen.sh
 $ ./configure
 $ make

For installing libsigrokdecode:

 $ make install

See INSTALL or the following wiki page for more (OS-specific) instructions:

 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Building


Copyright and license
---------------------

libsigrokdecode is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
(GPL), version 3 or later.

The protocol decoders (PDs) included in libsigrokdecode are an integral part
of the shared library (they are not merely external "plugins", they are not
external programs that libsigrokdecode calls via fork/exec, they cannot
function standalone without libsigrokdecode at all, the PDs and the rest of
the libsigrokdecode codebase share data structures and make function calls
to each other). Thus, since the PDs are part of the library, they are also
licensed under the terms of the GPLv3+.

While some individual source code files are licensed under the GPLv2+, and
some files are licensed under the GPLv3+, this doesn't change the fact that
the library as a whole is licensed under the terms of the GPLv3+.

Please see the individual source files for the full list of copyright holders.


Mailing lists
-------------

There are two mailing lists for sigrok/libsigrokdecode:

 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-devel
 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-commits


IRC
---

You can find the sigrok developers in the #sigrok IRC channel on Freenode.


Website
-------

 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Libsigrokdecode
Commit	Line	Data
	1	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	2	README
	3	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	4
	5	The sigrok project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform,
	6	Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite that supports various
	7	device types (such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, multimeters, and more).
	8
	9	libsigrokdecode is a shared library written in C which provides the basic
	10	API for running sigrok protocol decoders. The protocol decoders themselves
	11	are written in Python.
	12
	13
	14	Status
	15	------
	16
	17	libsigrokdecode is in a usable state and has had official tarball releases.
	18
	19	While the API can change from release to release, this will always be
	20	properly documented and reflected in the package version number and
	21	in the shared library / libtool / .so-file version numbers.
	22
	23	However, there are _NO_ guarantees at all for stable APIs in git snapshots!
	24	Distro packagers should only use released tarballs (no git snapshots).
	25
	26
	27	Requirements
	28	------------
	29
	30	- git
	31	- gcc (>= 4.0)
	32	- make
	33	- autoconf >= 2.63
	34	- automake >= 1.11
	35	- libtool
	36	- pkg-config >= 0.22
	37	- libglib >= 2.24.0
	38	- Python >= 3.0
	39
	40
	41	Building and installing
	42	-----------------------
	43
	44	In order to get the libsigrokdecode source code and build it, run:
	45
	46	$ git clone git://sigrok.org/libsigrokdecode
	47	$ cd libsigrokdecode
	48	$ ./autogen.sh
	49	$ ./configure
	50	$ make
	51
	52	For installing libsigrokdecode:
	53
	54	$ make install
	55
	56	See INSTALL or the following wiki page for more (OS-specific) instructions:
	57
	58	http://sigrok.org/wiki/Building
	59
	60
	61	Copyright and license
	62	---------------------
	63
	64	libsigrokdecode is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
	65	(GPL), version 3 or later.
	66
	67	The protocol decoders (PDs) included in libsigrokdecode are an integral part
	68	of the shared library (they are not merely external "plugins", they are not
	69	external programs that libsigrokdecode calls via fork/exec, they cannot
	70	function standalone without libsigrokdecode at all, the PDs and the rest of
	71	the libsigrokdecode codebase share data structures and make function calls
	72	to each other). Thus, since the PDs are part of the library, they are also
	73	licensed under the terms of the GPLv3+.
	74
	75	While some individual source code files are licensed under the GPLv2+, and
	76	some files are licensed under the GPLv3+, this doesn't change the fact that
	77	the library as a whole is licensed under the terms of the GPLv3+.
	78
	79	Please see the individual source files for the full list of copyright holders.
	80
	81
	82	Mailing lists
	83	-------------
	84
	85	There are two mailing lists for sigrok/libsigrokdecode:
	86
	87	https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-devel
	88	https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-commits
	89
	90
	91	IRC
	92	---
	93
	94	You can find the sigrok developers in the #sigrok IRC channel on Freenode.
	95
	96
	97	Website
	98	-------
	99
	100	http://sigrok.org/wiki/Libsigrokdecode
	101