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159 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
159 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
ooooo ooo ooooooooo. ooooooo ooooo
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`888' `8' `888 `Y88. `8888 d8'
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888 8 888 .d88' Y888..8P
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888 8 888ooo88P' `8888'
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888 8 888 .8PY888.
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`88. .8' 888 d8' `888b
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`YbodP' o888o o888o o88888o
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The Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
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Copyright (c) 1996-2001 Markus Oberhumer & Laszlo Molnar
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http://wildsau.idv.uni-linz.ac.at/mfx/upx.html
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http://upx.tsx.org
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WARNING - UNSTABLE BETA VERSION
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===============================
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All versions 1.1x are unstable beta releases - use them only for testing,
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and never distribute a program that is packed with them !
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There will be hidden bugs. Really.
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The current stable release is 1.06, and the next stable release
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will be called version 1.20.
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The main news since 1.06 are support for bootable Linux kernels ("vmlinuz/386")
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and direct Linux ELF-to-memory decompression ("linux/elf386"), so there's
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no reason to use the unstable versions unless you want to try the new formats.
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WELCOME
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=======
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Welcome to UPX 1.0, the first production release after almost two years
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of beta testing.
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Please don't forget to read the new LICENSE - UPX is now distributed
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under the GNU General Public License (GPL) with special exceptions
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allowing the distribution of all compressed executables, including
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commercial programs.
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INTRODUCTION
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============
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UPX is an advanced executable file compressor. UPX will typically
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reduce the file size of programs and DLLs by around 50%-70%, thus
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reducing disk space, network load times, download times and
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other distribution and storage costs.
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Programs and libraries compressed by UPX are completely self-contained
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and run exactly as before, with no runtime or memory penalty for most
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of the supported formats.
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UPX supports a number of different executable formats, including
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Win95/98/ME/NT/2000 programs and DLLs, DOS programs, and Linux
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executables and kernels.
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UPX is free software distributed under the term of the GNU General
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Public License. Full source code is available.
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UPX may be distributed and used freely, even with commercial applications.
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See the UPX License Agreement for details.
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UPX is rated number one in the well known Archive Comparison Test. Visit
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http://web.act.by.net/~act/act-exepack.html
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UPX aims to be Commercial Quality Freeware.
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SHORT DOCUMENTATION
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===================
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`upx program.exe' will compress a program or DLL. For best compression
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results try `upx --best program.exe'.
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Please see the file UPX.DOC for the full documentation. The files
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NEWS and BUGS also contain various tidbits of information.
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DISCLAIMER
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==========
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UPX comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details see the file LICENSE.
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Having said that, we think that UPX is quite stable now. Indeed we
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have compressed lots of files without any problems. Also, the
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current version has undergone several months of beta testing -
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actually it's almost 2 years since our first public beta.
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This is the first production quality release, and we plan that future
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releases will be backward compatible with this version.
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Please report all problems or suggestions to the authors. Thanks.
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THE FUTURE
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==========
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- We'd really love to support handheld systems like the PalmPilot because
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compression makes a lot of sense here. And - because of the atari/tos
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format - we already have a working decompressor in 68000 assembly.
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Unfortunately we know next to nothing about the operating system
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architecture of such handhelds, so we need some information from
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an expert. Please contact us if you think you can help.
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- The Linux approach could probably get ported to a lot of other Unix
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variants, at least for other i386 architectures it shouldn't be too
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much work. If someone sends me a fresh hard disk and an official
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FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris/BeOS... CD I might take a look at it ;-)
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- We will *NOT* add any sort of protection and/or encryption.
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This only gives people a false feeling of security because
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by definition all protectors/compressors can be broken.
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And don't trust any advertisment of authors of other executable
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compressors about this topic - just do a websearch on "unpackers"...
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- Fix all remaining bugs - keep your reports coming ;-)
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- See the file PROJECTS in the source code distribution if you want
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to contribute.
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COPYRIGHT
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=========
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Copyright (C) 1996-2001 Markus Franz Xaver Johannes Oberhumer
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Copyright (C) 1996-2001 Laszlo Molnar
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This program may be used freely, and you are welcome to
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redistribute it under certain conditions.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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UPX License Agreement for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the UPX License Agreement along
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with this program; see the file LICENSE. If not, visit the UPX home page.
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Share and enjoy,
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Markus & Laszlo
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Markus F.X.J. Oberhumer Laszlo Molnar
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markus@oberhumer.com ml1050@cdata.tvnet.hu
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[ The term UPX is a shorthand for the Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
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and holds no connection with potential owners of registered trademarks
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or other rights. ]
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[ Feel free to contact us if you have commercial compression requirements
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or interesting job offers. ]
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