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,
grn, refer, -man, -mdoc, and -ms macros, and drivers for PostScript, TeX
dvi format, HP LaserJet 4 printers, Canon CAPSL printers, HTML format
(still alpha), 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@axis.se).

See the file INSTALL for installation instructions.  You will require a
C++ compiler.

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

Groff is free software.  See the file COPYING 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, -ms, and the preprocessors.

The most recent released version of groff is always available by
anonymous ftp from ftp.gnu.org in the directory pub/gnu/groff.

A CVS repository is now available, containing the current development
version of groff.  You can access it with the commands

  export CVSROOT=:pserver:anoncvs@anoncvs.ffii.org:/var/cvs
  cvs login
  cvs -z9 co groff

(if the prompt for the password appears, just press the enter key).
After a successful login you no longer need the first two commands; an
update of a checked out repository should be done with

  cvs -z9 update -dP

Please read the info pages of cvs for further details.

Alternatively, you can download snapshots (which are updated twice a
day) from

  ftp://ftp.ffii.org/pub/groff/devel/groff-current.tar.gz

or a diff file relative to the latest official groff release as

  ftp://ftp.ffii.org/pub/groff/devel/groff-<version>-current.diff.gz

Assuming that groff-<version>.tar.gz and
groff-<version>-current.diff.gz are in the same directory, do the
following to apply the diff file:

  tar xzvf groff-<version>.tar.gz
  cd groff-<version>
  gunzip -c ../groff-<version>-current.diff.gz | patch -p1

Please report bugs using the form in the file BUG-REPORT; the idea of
this is to make sure that FSF has all the information it needs 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 us to determine whether it really is a bug or not.

Three mailing lists are available:

  bug-groff@gnu.org          for reporting bugs
  groff@gnu.org              for general discussion of groff
  groff-commit@ffii.org      a read-only list showing logs of
                             commitments to the CVS repository

Note that groff@gnu.org is an alias for groff@ffii.org; you must be
subscribed to the `groff' and `groff-commit' lists to send mails.

To subscribe, send a mail to <list>-request@<domain> (example:
groff-request@ffii.org) with the word `subscribe' in either the subject
or body of the email (don't include the quotes).

GNU groff was written by James Clark <jjc@jclark.com>.  It is now
maintained by Ted Harding <ted.harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk> and Werner
Lemberg <wl@gnu.org>.
